Batgirl
by ameliarose32
Summary: What happens when an average boy meets Batgirl
1. First Love

Warning: I just started to become interested in DC comics, interested enough to write fanfiction for Batgirl, my favorite character who's inspired me to start reading comics in general. Also - Injustice! Yesss!

 **PART I**

My name's Tom.

Hmm, I don't really know what else to say about myself.

Well, I'm a freshman at Gotham High School...

I enjoy sleeping, eating, reading, writing... erm, breathing.

Yes, the last part is very important. Ok, what else, what else..

Y'know, why don't we just come back to me later?

"Thomas Green."

I glance up, Mr. Wilkinson's voice breaking me out of my thoughts. He glares at me for a moment. "Thomas Green," he says again. "Why don't you help us with problem 5?"

"Erm..."

I glance down at the page of my textbook, which is the table of contents. After sneaking a glance at the book of the kid who sits next to me, I quickly turn my book to page 450 and read out problem 5. None of it makes sense to me, so I sit there a bit awkwardly in silence. As I begin to form a hum-drum explanation, I stop myself. "Okay," I say. "Why does Jason care about how many miles he's going anyway? Don't they have something to measure that?"

There's a giggle around the class, but Mr. Wilkinson, an old man with a brown mustache, does not look amused. He blinks slowly at me. "Thomas, just answer the question and stop being a smart-ass!" He looks around the room. "Everyone, this is a supremely easy question, and it will be on your test. Some people just don't get it-"

"The answer is 7 miles," a voice interrupts. Everyone's attention turns to none other than Barbara Gordon, an otherwise quiet, but cold, girl who sits in the back of the room. Barbara Gordon... no one knows much about her, except that she's Comissioner Gordon's daughter (which makes 99.99% of guys in school too afraid to approach her), and that she can be a little cold and distant. The cold and distant part, I don't know how that got around, people say she's stuck up, but personally, I just think she keeps to herself... and people don't like that (herd mentality). I stare at her for a moment, feeling a hot blush creep up my neck.

Barbara Gordon... I've always liked her. A lot.

That girl is the type of person who changes your life the moment she looks into your eyes and sees something special.

When I realize that I'm staring, I quickly break eye contact with her and glue my eyes to the textbook.

"Okay Miss Gordon, since you are so smart, let's give you the hardest question of the day," Mr. Wilkinson grunts. "This is the one that none of the others in any of my classes have been able to solve this year."

Barbara only stares back, looking bored. She's twirling a pencil in her slender fingers. "Well, bring it on then and stop flapping your lips."

His face goes red. "Miss Gordon!"

She raises her eyebrow, looks around the room. "Go ahead," she smirks. "But before you send me to the office, ask me that question."

"Okay then!" Mr. Wilkinson reads the question aloud, and all eyes turn to Barbara. She stares coolly into his eyes, and doesn't miss a beat as she answers the question correctly and smoothly. This only encourages Mr. Wilkinson to continue battering her with more, and more tough questions. She answers each one like a martial artist, a block here, a punch there, and a kick there. Everyone is stunned into silence, especially me.

The bell rings just as she finishes answering one question. Whatever Mr. Wilkinson had to say is interrupted by everyone quickly gathering their books and running out into the hallways like a herd of cattle. I, however, stay behind and watch as the teacher gives Barbara a disdainful, yet impressed, glance, and walks out of the classroom without a word. Barbara stands up and starts collecting her things, but just as she's placing a pencil in her backpack, she stops and her brown eyes flick up to meet mine.

I quickly look away and rush out into the hallway, my face red and my heart beating loudly in my ears.

"Hey you..."

The sound of her voice makes me walk even faster...

"Hey! Wait up!"

I skid to a stop, almost awkwardly, and slowly turn. Her face is inches away from mine, and I swear, her breath smells like strawberries. Or maybe that's just my imagination... rose-colored glasses. Gosh, she's beautiful. I gulp. "Hey... can I help you?" She smirks. "Thomas, right? Or Tom?" Her voice is dripping with sarcasm, disdain, and something else... something I can't quite place.

"Y-yeah..."

"Not going to thank me for saving your ass earlier?"

"Oh, um," I look at the ground. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

I look at her, then say quietly "well, you're the one who mentioned it..." At this, her eyes narrow and I quickly delve into silence, but can't help sneaking another glance. She is so freaking cute.

"You got a point there," she grins, and her whole face transforms into a kind of innocence. "Hey, let's grab lunch together, yeah?"

"Erm..."

Before I can say anything, she grabs my arm and pulls me towards the cafeteria. Oh boy. I glance up at the windows which line the hallway. It's a bright, sunny day with not a cloud in sight.

After she buys us both lunch, and I thank her timidly, she pushes the doors open into the sunshine. We have lunch behind the bleachers, where she asks me everything about myself. No, really. Finally, when the interrogation is done about my family, where I was born, what I like to do, we fall into silence... I sense the silence is just her pausing to give me permission to ask her about herself as well. I mean, I'm not used to being bossed around by a girl, but a part of me likes it. The attention, I mean... not the bossing around part. No, really! Hey, don't look at me like that.

"So... what about you?"

She looks at me, her slender hands buried in the grass, her face tilted upwards and her red hair spilling like a blood river down her shoulders. "What about me?" she asks.

"Like, your family..."

Her eyes twinkle. "My dad's a sweet guy."

"Hmm."

"Yep, don't believe me?" she pulls out a cell phone, shows me a picture of her and Comissioner Gordon baking cupcakes.

"He loves you a lot," I find myself saying.

"Yeah," she agrees quietly.

There's a short lull, then the school bell rings.

She gets up and dusts the grass off her jeans. "C'mon, slowpoke."

We're back in the hallways at school, and for some reason, even though our classes are different ends of the hallway, I'm at her locker near her next class. She places a stack of books into my arms. "Here ya go, hero. Take these for me."

"Where?"

She glances at the classroom.

"Oh, okay."

"That's what boyfriends do, right?"

My mouth drops and my face turns red. "W-what?"

"I mean, if you were my boyfriend, and there's only a 1% chance of that ever happening, then you would be carrying my books into this class for me."

"Um... yes, hypothetically..."

"And hypothetically..."

We reach the entrance of the classroom.

"Hypothetically," she says quietly, almost a whisper, "you'd kiss me, just... like... this."

Her lips touch mine. They're really soft. Just as we kiss, the bell rings.

I'm frozen... frozen in place, frozen in time.

She winks. "See ya."


	2. Brownie Points

Well, it happened.

Our first date, I mean.

So I'm sitting here waiting for her. Barbara Gordon. People talk about her in the hallways sometime. I try not to listen because I honestly don't care about what people say. Their opinions don't matter to me. But needless to say, I have ears. And ears, of course, hear things…

I hear things like how 'hot' Babs is, about her boobs, her ass, everything else. Then I hear about how she's a firecracker too, how she's got one heck of a b-word attitude.

Sitting there waiting for her at the local ice-cream store in town, I was nervous to say the least. She was late too. I glance down at my watch. It's a hot day and outside of the store, a dog sits chained to a bike rack panting heavily. There's only a few people in the store, eating ice cream and chatting. A fan is on nearby.

There's a newcast playing on a small old television propped up on the wall. A reporter's talking about how there's a robbery in progress. I glance at my watch again. Then, suddenly, someone says "look at her go." I look up at the television screen and see none other than Batgirl. Wow. She's really going at it. With what looks like ease, she grabs one of the robbers and slams him into a wall before tying him up.

Another one of the burglars pulls out his gun and starts to fire but she knocks him out with a swift punch to the jaw. He falls to the floor just as the police catch up.

A guy laughs behind me laughs and says, "Well, well, well, the police finally caught up."

Hmm.

After the news report, which has people in the shop clamoring and talking about the masked vigilantes defending this city, I look down at my watch again. I pull out my phone and play with a few apps. Sudoku's pretty fun. I glance at my reflection in the mirror. I'm wearing a dark black shirt (girls like guys in black shirts, right?) and my favorite pair of jeans along with my newest pair of sneakers.

"I'm so sorry!" a voice gasps. I look up and see Babs. Her face is hot and sweaty, and her fiery red hair is a mess. She sighs and sits down in front of me emanating heat. "Are you okay?" I ask, getting up. "Let me get you a cup of water."

"Thanks, Tom." She smiles. "You're the best."

I get her a cup of cold water and she sips it gratefully. Fifteen minutes later, we're both settled into our seats eating ice cream. A few schoolkids are laughing and talking nearby. I ask her why she was late and she laughs nervously. "My friend wasn't feeling well," she rolls her eyes.

"Oh, is she okay?"

"Yeah! She's fine!"

Our first date's going well. She talks about her classes, what she enjoys doing in her free-time (reading books, shopping, exercising, spending time with her dad and her roommate Alysia), and I share similar information.

An hour later, we're both walking in the nearby park still deep in discussion. "What was the darkest moment in your life?" I ask. After I ask it, there's a deep pause and I instantly regret asking that kind of question. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Who asks a question like that anyway? I should just walk around in life with tape sealed over my mouth.

"Sorry," I mumble. "I shouldn't have asked that."

She smiles and suddenly looks tired before saying, "Did you know I was in a wheelchair some years ago?"

My eyes widen. I stay quiet, so she says, "Someone put me in that wheelchair…"

"You don't have to-"

"I opened the door one day, Tom, and there he was. With a gun and two henchman by his side." She laughs bitterly. "He was dressed in Hawaiian clothing and had a camera. After shooting me in the spine, he took a picture of it and I was left paralyzed for a very, very long time." She looks at me solemnly. "That was the darkest moment in my life."

"I'm… so sorry." I say. Sorry I asked that question. Sorry that that had happened to her. Sorry that I was asking something like that on our first date.

"No," she sits down on a park bench and looks out across the bright green fields. Children are laughing and screaming nearby. A man walks his Golden Retriever past us, the dog panting in a bright smile. In this scene, Gotham looks like a safe, all-around family friendly place. But both of us know that that's far from the truth.

There are secrets in this town. Big secrets. Dark things happening. I've heard about them on the news and from civilian rumors. Masked criminals running around killing people. Corrupt politicians. Of course, the usual criminal vermin who go around snatching purses and extorting shop owners. But I've never been involved, you know? Not until now.

"I'm glad you asked," she puts her hand on my knee. I look down at it instantly, then look back up into her eyes. They're an emerald green, sparkling and brave. Ugh. Suddenly, I've been reduced to a twelve year old schoolgirl giggling nervously and looking down at her feet. There's just something about Barbara that's _different_. Different from every other girl I've met or dated, really.

I don't know what it is yet, but I'm betting it has something to do with her bravery and her courage. She goes through life kicking ass.

"Why are you glad I asked?" I say, swallowing the nervous lump in my throat.

"Because it shows that you hate small talk as much as I do," she winks. "And it shows that you actually care about the bigger things in life… although, I wouldn't call it a smart move to ask a question like that on the first date."

"No," I scratch my head.

"But…" she says. "You did earn some brownie points."

"What do I get for my brownie points?" I grin.

"Close your eyes, handsome…"

I close my eyes and wait. Some birds chirp happily nearby.

I feel a rustling in my ear and then the sound of a camera taking a photo. I open my eyes. Babs bursts out laughing. She shows me her cellphone. There's a picture of me with my eyes closed and a flower tucked in my ear. "Nice," I say blandly.

"My, my, Tom," she tells me. "Don't you look handsome!"

"Alright, don't get too excited," I laugh. We end up laughing together, and by the time I walk her home, I'm certain this day has been a success.

"Don't miss me too much!" she says just as she's about to close the door.

"Can't promise that," I reply slowly.

There's a slight pause before she sighs and opens the door back again. Coming back to me, she kisses me softly on the forehead before turning and going back inside.

When I'm walking to the bus stop, a text buzzes on my phone: **There. That should help you miss me a little less**.

I open the door to my house which is admittedly bigger than a lot of the other houses in Gotham. I live in a more upscale neighborhood in the city. There's less crime here and the houses are all several stories high with manicured lawns.

"Welcome home, honey," my mom says, poking her head from the kitchen where she's putting together a flower arrangement for her latest fundraiser she's planning to hold at the Gotham Golden Country Club. Her gold hair is tied up in a neat bun as usual and she's wearing a white silk blouse. "Hey mom," I say, opening the fridge to grab some water. "The flowers look nice."

"Don't they?" she sighs. The smell of fresh flowers permeates through the kitchen, which is bathed in sunlight. "I so, so want this fundraiser to go well." She shakes her head. "We have a lot of people in need in Gotham and I'm certain that if we get enough donations, that we can somehow help them."

Taking a sip of water, I nod slowly.

"Well, what do you think?" she asks.

"I agree," I smile. I go over and give her a nice comforting hug. "It's going to be amazing, mom."

"Thank you, sweetie."

The doorbell rings.

"That must be Ted!" my mom says. I roll my eyes before saying, "I'll get it" and head to the door.

Ted, also known as Theodore Rankin, is my cousin. He's richer than me, goes to some snotty private school and is a douchebag. Of course, because he goes to an elite school, gets straight A's and is a star athlete, he can do no wrong in my family's eyes.

Douchebag.

"What's up, fool?" Ted walks in like he owns the place, ruffling my hair as he does say.

"Hey, Ted." I say again.

"Just came in to talk to your mom about the auction," he laughs. "You know I'm getting auctioned off, right?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Auction?"

Well, thank goodness someone's going to take him off our hands, I think sourly. Alright, alright, I know how this looks but I am NOT jealous of Ted. He's just a douchebag.

"Yep," Ted says, walking past me and into the kitchen. "Guessing you weren't invited."

"Mom," I say. "What's this about an auction?"

My mom gives Ted a hug and then smiles brightly at me before saying, "Oh yes! I forgot to tell you, Tom, I'm having an auction at my fundraiser. We're going to be auctioning off dates with some of Gotham's best and I think your cousin Ted will definitely help us pull in some nice bids. Don't you think?" She beams at me, so innocently in fact that I smile and lie. "Yes," I finally say. "Why not?"

I turn to leave before my mom says, "Oh, and you're in it too, Thomas!"

"What?" I turn to look at her. "I wasn't told about this!"

Ted picks up a flower from the arrangement and surveys it with disdain. He starts pulling petals from it and I try not to cringe.

"Yes, dear," my mom laughs embarrassedly. "I thought I told you."

"Agh, mom…" I definitely don't want to be having this conversation in front of Ted. "Well, okay," I acquiesce. "I guess it couldn't hurt."

"That's the spirit!" my mom says. She smiles at me again and I feel a flash of pride for her. "You're going to do wonderfully, son."

Ted starts coughing and we turn to look at him. "Sorry," he says. "Just got some allergies."

"Ah, so you're in an auction?" Babs and I are walking home after school.

"Yes," I tell her. "Apparently, I'm going to get dressed up in some suit and paraded in front of about two hundred to three hundred rich people. They're going to bid on a date with me." I shrug.

"You're probably going to make some old lady's day," she teases.

We start laughing together and I pull her close to me. She smells like fresh laundry.

Some girls smell like flowers. Some girls smell like candy. And some smell like stale perfume. But for Babs, her scent (I know this sounds creepy) is a lot like her personality. Straightforward, clean and 100% real. That's one of the things that's different about her. She doesn't play games.

"Why don't you come?" I ask. "You should bid on me."

"Pfft," she rolls her eyes. "I don't have any money, remember?"

"You can pay me back later," I grin. "In other ways."

It's only after a few seconds that we both simultaneously realize the weight of those words.

"Uh, what I meant was," my face is hot. "Through a game of basketball, or free lunch, or something."

"That's what I was thinking too," she says after a pause. Then she winks and I almost sigh with relief.

You know how I mentioned Ted was the 'golden boy' of our family? Well, my family members usually describe me as 'a good kid', 'straightforward', 'honest'… but also, of course, BLAND. Just bland. Boring.

So being here with one of the most unique girls I know, someone that a lot of people talk about at school, I'm wondering how it all happened. I'm feeling like one of the luckiest guys on earth. That she doesn't think I'm boring, I mean. I guess one of her flaws is bad taste in men. Just kidding.

I also tend to be sarcastic too, by the way.

We have lunch at a small diner. The waitress puts down two cup of joes before us. Babs has a burger and I have a salad. Hey, don't hate. Salads are manly, okay? She bites into her burger and gives a small moan, and I curl my toes a little bit.

"I'm guessing you really like your burger," I say, taking a bite of my salad. The sunshine falls against her red hair, highlighting it and making it look fiery in the daylight.

"It's good," she says. "How's your salad, miss?"

I swallow my bite of salad and tell her that it tastes great. "Very manly," I reply. "Almost like the protein shake I have for breakfast every morning."

"Protein shake?" her eyebrow raises. "Trying to build muscle, I see?"

"Don't you notice?" I hold out my arm, which isn't exactly the most muscular of arms. "See? Look at all that muscle."

"Nice," she waits for a moment before lifting up her sleeve. "Wanna see mine?"

I freeze for a moment as she lifts up her sleeve to reveal pale pearlescent skin. I swallow the lump in my throat. Suddenly, the room's feeling tense. Then she flexes and I see tons of muscles with popping veins. My mouth drops.

"Whoa," I say. "That's insane."

She eats her burger with a smug look on her face. "Yeah," she says. "I like to work out sometime. I told you it was my hobby, right?"

I laugh and look at my salad, poke at my cherry tomatoes a little bit. "You're amazing, Babs," I say. "I don't know anyone like you." So there we are, staring into each other's eyes for a little bit. Transfixed. It's the first time I've ever looked at anyone this way. It's like when you look into someone's eyes and you feel like they really understand who you are. That's how it feels like.

"Thank you, Thomas," she finally says.

Before we can say anything else, there's breaking news. We both turn to the television which features a news report that talks about how Joker has just broken free from Arkham Asylum. I look at Babs and I notice that her whole face has changed. She's gone pale and she's staring at the television like she's seen a ghost.

"Barbara," I say. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she says. She has a stony expression.

The entire tone of our conversation changes. It's tense now. I try to talk about the report, but whatever I'm saying just seems to be agitating her further so I just stop.

Our date ends with a limp hug.


	3. The Auction

A few weeks later, she's seemed to come back to her 'normal' self. And I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that she's going to the function.

The bad news is that Commissioner Gordon's going to be there too.

Nothing against him, but he's not exactly the most approachable guy. Especially if you're dating his daughter.

I walk out of the door and into the cool morning air. There's dogs barking nearby and I see that our neighbor has a big Rottweiler in his yard pacing anxiously around. I raise my eyebrow. The house on the street facing mine now has barred windows. There's been a series of break-ins and murders lately in Gotham, particularly in the more upscale neighborhoods. The murders are gruesome with victims being decapitated or torn limb by limb. Eyes gouged out. Hair pulled out in tufts. Fingers lying on kitchen countertops.

Things like that.

I cringe at the thought of it. That's just the reality of life in Gotham. There's crime literally everywhere.

The killers are dubbed by the news reports as the 'Brisby Killers'. Four of them have been spotted, wearing scary masks.

My parents have decided that it's not safe for me to walk to school anymore or use the bus, so they bought me a car. To be honest, my dad picked it out for me. I like having a car to drive around but sometimes it attracts a lot of attention. I put the key into the ignition and my car roars to life. It drives smoothly down the streets before hitting traffic. I sit in traffic for a little bit and sigh. Great.

I'd rather just take the bus, to be honest. But… like I said, I am very grateful for this car. I turn up the radio before I hear a girl shout, "HEY CUTIE!"

I look out my window to see who this cutie is, before I realize that there's a gaggle of girls looking at me. The one at the wheel, a blonde, gives me a wink. "Nice car!" she says. I smile tensely before rolling up my window.

That's the type of attention I meant.

Babs has been missing school for a few days and she hasn't been responding to my texts. I'm waiting for her outside her locker, feeling more worried than ever. My arms are crossed and I'm leaning against the locker adjacent to hers, glancing at my watch every ten minutes before class starts. Looks stalkerish, I know, but I haven't heard from her in weeks.

The bell rings and I find myself frozen. Where could she be?

Finally, I head to class and try to not look as worried as I feel. The whole time the teacher's talking about chemistry, I'm coming up with possible scenarios in my head. Is she okay? Did she get kidnapped? What if that person she talked about came back to get her? Who would shoot her, anyway? Probably someone with a grudge against Commissioner Gordon.

Nobody welcomed the news of the Joker escaping Arkham Asylum, but when she saw that report, she looked like she was about to faint. She looked scared to… death, almost literally. Did he do something to her? All these thoughts are swarming in my head.

When class ends, I'm grateful. I wait by her locker again but she doesn't show up.

After school, I walk out into the hallways and try to keep an eye out for her. It's only been three days since I've last seen her… but still. She hasn't been responding to me at all.

Maybe she wants to break up with you, a voice says. No. No way.

I get out my phone and text Roy Harper.

"Hey," I text. "Do you have some time to talk?"

A few minutes later, my phone buzzes with another text.

"Yeah, what's up?"

I bite my lip and write, "Babs missing. Haven't seen her for three days. Worried."

Immediately, a text buzzes back.

"don't worry J she can take of herself."

"How do you know?" I frown.

"I just know. Stop worrying, kid."

I exhale and pace around for a bit. The hallways are empty now.

Finally, there's another text.

"I'm at home. Want to come over for lunch and talk about it?"

"On my way."

Roy lives in an apartment building with homeless people milling around the sidewalks and staircases. I walk into the lobby and see some suspicious looking guys loitering around the elevator. Avoiding eye contact, I press the 'up' button and wait.

A few moments later, I'm waiting outside his apartment. He opens the door and hands me a cold coke, which I take gratefully. I sip it as I watch him practice throwing darts on a dartboard. He hits the center each time perfectly. "Can you teach me how to do that?" I ask mildly.

He grins. "Hey, I thought you'd never ask." He puts down the darts and sits on his brown leather sofa, looking at me. "So what's up with all this worrying about Barbara and everything? I told you she's going to be okay."

"How do you know that?" I sigh. I sit in the recliner next to his sofa and shrug. "Maybe she just wants to break up with me."

"I thought she was the girl, not you."

"Hey, guys can have emotions too." I say.

He grins and ruffles my hair. "Just teasing, kid."

"Relax!" he tells me. "She'll call you back any day now. Or… you could always call Gordon and ask about it."

I shake my head slowly. "I'd rather not lose my life so quickly."

"You know what?" he says, getting up. He takes another dart and launches it perfectly into the center of the dart board. "You need a hobby. Something to exert all that energy you have. You need something to do, man."

"I have school!" I can't help feeling defensive.

"Let me teach you archery," he tells me. "It's good for ah, stress relief purposes."

After a few moments, I find myself agreeing with him. Maybe it would be good to have a hobby.

"C'mon," he says. "Let's try it out now."

"Alright," I say. "It's worth a try at least." I need something to distract me. I casually take a dart and cast it at the dartboard. It misses the center just by a little bit.

"Hm," Roy says. "You just missed it…"

I shrug.

"But that wasn't bad." He says.

I finally see her a few days before the function. She apologizes for having been so MIA lately.

"A lot's happened…" was her explanation.

And I accepted it.

Because, well, that's what people who are in love do, right?

I trust her.

But I know there comes a time when she'll have to trust me.

She's carrying a big burden. I know it. I'm unclear what it is specifically, but that girl carries around a lot of weight. She needs someone to help her, whether she knows it or not.

So we're back to our normal dates. Eating lunch together, talking about random crap going on in our lives. Things like that.

The Brisby Killers are still at large but Batgirl's been fighting for us. Even though they escaped, there was no one murdered at the last time they were seen and that's saying a lot. I wonder who these masked vigilantes are. They must be metahuman or superhuman or something. I don't think I could ever be like that. Nope, I'll just be me. Civilian Thomas Green. Maybe I'll be an accountant one day.

Although, I do want to be someone that Babs is proud of. I want to be someone who can protect her.

Babs says I think too much sometimes and I'm starting to think that she's right.

The function's held at the most upscale country club in Gotham. An orchestra sits at the stage of the ballroom. All the men are dressed in perfectly pressed suits and all the women are dressed in expensive-looking dresses. Waiters weave through the crowds, carrying stainless steel trays of French snack foods that I can't pronounce and glasses of wine.

A large ice-sculpture sits nearby. It's in the shape of a city with people holding hands in front of it.

Babs is by my side, wearing a purple dress that hugs her curves nicely. Commissioner Gordon and I are talking about school and everything. "When was the moment that you knew you wanted to be a detective?" I ask curiously. Gordon grins at me before telling Babs, "Barbara, your friend sure does ask some interesting questions."

"Dad, you know Thomas is just very…" she searches for the word. "Thoughtful."

Gordon laughs.

He doesn't answer my question though.

Something tells me it'll just take time for Gordon to really accept what Babs and I have going on.

I'm wearing a suit that my mother purchased for me. Haha, yes, this time my mom really did pick out my clothing. It's a suit imported from some country and my mom corralled me to the tailor the day after to make sure it "fit perfectly". After I tried it on, alterations and all, I remember both the seamstress and my mom staring at my reflection in amazement.

I briefly felt like one of those girls in those high school prom movies, where she gets all dressed up and people are like, "wow! I never knew you could look so… attractive!"

But here I am though. And Babs just can't take her eyes off me.

"For the hundrendth time in the world, Thomas," she says, her eyes glittering. "You look amazing."

"Thanks, Babs…" I laugh shyly.

Gordon is all the way across the other side of the room, so I sneak a quick kiss. We both start laughing shyly.

"You look beautiful, Barbara." I tell her.

"I know," she sips her water. "I think they're calling for you, Romeo."

In a few moments, I'm backstage ready to get 'auctioned off'.

Ted is the third to be auctioned and I'm the fifth. After I start to walk off the stage, though, I hear a loud crash. People start screaming. Wine glasses are being smashed. There's the sound of a violin screeching somewhere. I see the ice sculpture falling to the floor and smashing in pieces.

"EVERYONE, HOLD THE HELL UP!" an angry voice shouts. I come face to face with someone wearing a green mask. It's a Frankenstein mask. The guy grabs me and throws me off the stage. I fall to the floor and cry out.

"Thomas!" I hear Barbara shout.

"Run!" I shout at her. "Get away, Babs!"

"Here's our first hostage for the night!" the guy in the mask laughs. The Brisby Killers. He's joined by three other guys in masks. I see red (a devil mask), blue (a Dracula mask) and a guy wearing a plain white mask with black holes for eyes and mouth. He's wearing a bloody white shirt and points a gun at me.

"Hey, handsome."


	4. The Girl I Love

So here I am… waiting to be saved. I'm chained to a chair and blindfolded. Boy, if I haven't been in this situation before. In the darkness, I can hear the thugs talking about how they're going to torture me. It's all graphic stuff that I'm sure you wouldn't be too interested in hearing. Let's just say it's… gruesome.

"…Send his mom a box of his fingers, I think!" one of them says and they all burst into laughter. I tense myself, not knowing what to expect.

Apparently, they're waiting for Batgirl to show up and when she does show up, subdue her and torture her. I don't know. Will she show up? Or any of the other masked vigilantes who protect Gotham? Or am is my mom going to be receive a package tomorrow that will scare the daylights out of her?

I hope she's okay.

Drops of sweat are falling down my forehead. I'm terrified.

The voices, somehow, sound familiar. One of them does, anyway.

"You always thought you were so perfect, didn't you?" a voice says.

I freeze.

"What do you mean?" I ask, my voice shaking. If only I knew how to defend myself. But I don't. I'm no martial artist. I don't have any special superpowers. I'm only a civilian.

"Thomas, Thomas, Thomas, don't you recognize my voice?"

In a few moments, the blindfold is yanked off. My eyes adjust to the bright white light and I'm greeted by the four guys again dressed in scary masks. The leader, who's wearing a white mask with holes in it and a bloody shirt, is standing in front of me. Slowly, he pulls off his mask and I see none other than Ted.

I told you he was a douchebag.

"Ted?" I ask.

"Yep," he smiles smugly down at me. "Didn't expect to see me here, did ya?"

"What the hell is going on?" I say. "What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he picks up a newspaper on the floor and shoves it in my face. It's an article about the Brisby Killers.

"You're part of the Brisby Killers…" my mouth drops.

"Yes, Captain Obvious," Frankenstein scoffs.

"You always acted like you were too good to talk to me. Well, look at where we're at today. Why don't you beg for mercy?" he sneers. "And I'll see if we'll let you leave alive? I mean, you might not leave with all your body parts intact… but at least you won't be in hell tonight. At least."

"Shut the hell up!" I shout. "What did anyone ever do to you?"

There's a shocked silence.

All I can think about is how Ted was raised in a good household. I've been to dinner parties at his house before, for Pete's sake. His mom and dad are some of the nicest people I know. He goes to private school, gets straight A's and is the quarterback of the football team. Why would he go and screw it all up? Is it because he enjoys killing?

"Why are you doing this?" I ask.

I'm answered with a swift kick to the face. My chair falls sideways as I cry out. I taste blood in my mouth. After a few moments, I realize my tooth is loose. They put the chair upright again and I swallow my blood, tasting iron.

"Because I like to kill people, duh."

I stare at him, shocked. "What?" I say. That's the worst reason I've ever heard anyone give for wanting to kill people. Because they like it? I shake my head.

"Are you really going to kill me?" I finally say. We're standing in a dim room. There's no windows anywhere. Just one single overhanging light casting a gray light that bathes this small room. The air is tense.

"Yes," Dracula laughs. "What's a party without someone dying, right?"

Ted stands up and doesn't break eye contact with me as he slowly slides his mask back on. "Yep."

I inhale slightly. What's my mother going to say? How will my dad react?

I'll never see Babs again.

But there's nothing I can do. I'm powerless.

I get a brief flashback of practicing archery with Roy. Nobody brings a bow and arrow around with them, but if I could have prevented something like this from happening, I would have. He said I was really good at it too. Now that's a hobby I'll never get to explore. Wasted potential, I think.

I haven't been good at too many things in my life.

As they near me, I open my mouth and say, "well, if you're really going to kill me now, there's only thing I can say."

"And what is that?" Ted stops. He probably expects me to beg for my life, and for a moment, I consider doing that… but instead, I decide to die like the foolish kid I am.

"You're a douchebag, Ted."

In the brief pause that follows, there's a loud crash and the door flies open. Everyone cries out as a black and yellow whirl enters the room.

"Who the hell is that?!" one of them shouts.

"It's Batgirl!" Ted cries out.

I'm lying on my side, watching as the commotion unfolds. And there she is. Batgirl.

Fighting four of them at once… dodging kicks and fists like it's nothing. Like she's been doing this her whole life, which she probably has.

Wow.

My mouth hangs open as I watch how with ease, she dodges Ted's punch and slams him against the wall. She throws a Batarang knocking the gun out of Frankenstein's hand. He clutches his hand, which is now bleeding profusely and he shouts, "YOU BITCH!"

"Why don't you mind your manners, kid?" she shouts before landing a punch right in his jaw. He flies backward and hits the wall with a slam. The guy in the devil costume and Dracula are already knocked out on the floor. Ted, who's lying on his back clutching his side, tries desperately to reach for the gun which she kicks out his way nonchalantly. "Nope."

"Damn you!" Ted breathes.

"That's what they all say," she mumbles as she ties him up. Then she walks over to me. I stare at her, amazed. Bright red hair flows down her back in fiery curls. Her dark green eyes pierce into mine. Suddenly, my loose tooth falls out of my mouth and hits the floor. She laughs. "You look like you need medical attention…" she says gently, kneeling down and helping me.

"Thank you, thank you so much, Batgirl," I say. I can barely speak. My voice is still shaking. I hold onto her. Her skin is warm and soft, just like a girl's. Well, she is a girl, but still.

"No problem…" her voice matches mine. "Let's get you out of here."

* * *

So with that, she carries me out of the building into the warm sunshine just as the police rush into the building. My mom and dad are waiting for me outside and I can see a news helicopter up overhead.

"Mom!" I shout. "Dad!" I run into the arms of my parents, leaving Batgirl behind. When I turn around, she's already gone.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Babs is beside me in the hospital bed.

"Yes," I say. My hand reaches up to my face as I remember that punch Ted gave me earlier. I wince at the pain and put my hand down. Ow. "I'm sorry for worrying you…"

"Don't be sorry!" Babs shakes her head. "I'm just glad you're alright. We were worried about you." Her dark green eyes look into mine and I feel a flash of familiarity.

Could it be?

No…

"Right." I take a sip of my water. "And your dad's okay too?" She laughs at this. "He's fine, of course."

"Good."

"How is your mom doing?"

I shrug. "The best she can, right now…" I look at her. "I don't think anyone expected Ted to be one of the killers. He seemed to be so straight-laced."

"You did say he was a douchebag."

I laugh. "True."

We smile at each other for a few moments, not looking away. I realize that I'm falling for her more than ever. Just yesterday, I could have lost my life and never seen her again. I have to tell her.

"Babs, can I tell you something?"

"What is it?" she asks, twisting a strand of orange hair around her finger.

"You're different from anyone else I've ever met," I say to her. I look down at the glass of water between my hands. "And you've changed me in a lot of different ways." When I look up, I'm struck by the love that's in her eyes too. "I think I love you, Barbara."

She wraps her arms around me in a tight hug. Ow, ow, ow.

Realizing her mistake, she quickly draws back. "Sorry!" she winces.

I clutch my shoulders. "It's okay…"

"I love you too, Thomas." She says, putting her hand on my cheek.

It feels oddly familiar.

I look into her eyes and compare it to Batgirl's eyes. They have the same hairstyle, the same hair color, but there's no way Babs could be her, right? Babs is just a normal girl. She's the daughter of Commissioner Gordon. She doesn't need to learn how to fight. She's got her dad to protect her, and the entire Gotham PD.

Finally, I just smile. We lock eyes for a moment.

And I decide now is better than ever to ask.

"Barbara, do you trust me?"

She waits for a little bit before saying, "of course I do. Why would you even ask that, silly?"

"Where were you the past few days?" I slowly ask.

"I was busy," she says, looking away. "Taking care of things."

"Like what?"

She looks at me for a long time. "One day, I'll tell you…" she says as she gets up. "But right now, I don't think we're ready."

I meet her gaze quietly. I return a small smile. "If that's what you want, Barbara."

* * *

I'm released after two days. When I arrive home, there's a newcast of the reporter announcing that the Brisby killers have been captured and are now in jail. My mom is watching the television, her hand over her mouth. My dad smiles warily and says, "guess who's home?"

She turns and our eyes meet. She smiles, her eyes flooding with tears. "Thomas!" She runs over and hugs me tightly.

I hug her back and close my eyes in relief. "Mom…"

"I'm so glad you're okay," she sighs.

"I'm okay!" I tell her. I step back and look at my parents. "Only a few minor injuries… although, I did lose a tooth." I hold up a clear baggie with my tooth in it which makes my mom cringe a little.


	5. Masked Vigilantes

The next day at school, things have somewhat gone back to normal. Being kidnapped has made me somewhat 'cooler' in the eyes of my peers. Which I find amusing but also sad. After class ends, I gather up my books and head to the hallway before anyone else can ask me what it was like. To be honest, I couldn't get any sleep last night. I kept thinking about how powerless I felt.

I need to defend myself somehow, I think. Maybe take up some self-defense classes. I could ask Roy, a voice says. That's true. Just as I'm taking out my phone, I look up and see a woman. She looks like a teacher here. She's got long blonde hair that's tied up in a neat bun and is wearing a silk blouse and dark gray pencil skirt. When she catches me looking, she smiles. I smile back before glancing down at my phone.

To: R. Harper

Hey… can you teach me how to fight?

After I send the text, a reply immediately buzzes back.

From: R. Harper

Of course I can. Be at my place at 8.

I text back, 'you got it-'

"Hey, stranger."

"Babs," I grin and quickly shoot off my text before accepting her hug. We walk along the hallways together. "Are you feeling better?" she asks.

"Slightly," I reply. My hand goes up to my jaw in remembrance. "I'm kind of missing a tooth."

"Let me see."

I open my mouth and let her look. She chuckles. "Gross."

"Thanks," I smile at her. "I was thinking it gave me character, though."

"Mmm."

We walk out into the daylight. Winter is approaching and the days are growing colder. We head to the coffee shop down the street where I buy both of us some hot chocolate. "Thanks," she says. We sit outside on a bench and sip our drinks. I put my arm around the bench. Hot chocolate just tastes sweeter when you're drinking it with the girl you love. Alright, that was cheesy.

I finish my drink and look at her. She's still sipping hers and looking out into the distance.

"What's wrong?" I ask. She breaks out of her thoughts and looks at me. "Oh," her face relaxes. "Nothing."

"You know, Babs…" I start. Her green eyes look into mine.

"You can trust me." I finally tell her. "I'm here for you. And I care."

After a brief pause, she looks at the floor and smiles. Her eyelashes are long and dark. "I know. Thank you."

The moment passes and our conversation becomes lighter. Soon enough, we start teasing each other again and laughing like we always do. But I could tell that there was something lurking in the background. Sooner or later, it would catch up to us.

* * *

At 8:00pm, I arrive at Roy's house wearing my gym clothes. I've got a bottle of water and no idea what to expect. But I'm ready. Determined and ready.

At 8:32pm, I'm getting my ass kicked. We're in some sketchy gym down the street and fighting in a boxing ring. I fall to the floor and my head hits the rubber mat. "Ow," I mumble.

Roy laughs and extends his hand. I take it and stand up, wiping the sweat off my brow. He has a weird way of teaching self-defense. It doesn't look like it does on television. Instead, it feels more like hand to hand combat.

Luckily, I'm picking it up a lot easier than I thought I would.

After our self-defense session, Roy and I head to the locker room.

"That was good," he says, the faintest hint of a smile on his face. "You've got potential, kid."

"Thanks," I say. I'm exhausted, but I won't tell him that. Although I think he probably notices because my face is red and sweat is drenching my tank top. He helps me refill my water bottle, then hands it to me after I get changed. I wonder what he means by potential.

"I want to show you something," he says.

"What?" I look at him. We're both about to leave and I have my gym bag on my shoulder. We head out into the night cold. Nearby, a police siren sounds.

"Well, kid, what do you think about the level of crime in this city?"

I roll my eyes. "Is that a real question or are you serious?"

"I'm serious."

"Well, people are dying every day." We stand outside in the dim yellow light, which is flickering. "And old ladies get knocked over. Women get their purses stolen. Men get beat up. I lost a tooth the other day." We smile wryly at each other. "But it's the best the police can do right now, and at least we have people who want to help." I look up at the sky, where the full moon seems to be watching us.

"I think they need help too, though."

I look at him. "What do you mean?"

"Leave your stuff at my place," he says. "And follow me."

We head back to his apartment where I drop off my gym bag. "You do know it's a school night, right?"

Roy emerges wearing a red hoodie and red gloves. He's holding a giant red bow and he's got red arrows slung over his shoulder. "Dude," I say. "I've got chemistry tomorrow morning."

"Come on, 'dude'," he says. "I've got something that'll kick chemistry's ass."

"Really?" I smile curiously.

We head out into the streets. I follow him quietly. Glancing down at my watch, I see a text message from my mom wondering where I'm at. Sorry, mom.

In a few moments, I hear someone shouting. "Hey, get back here!"

"You see that?" Roy asks. We're hiding by a side alley. A guy runs out, pursued by a bunch of angry men with tattoos and tank-tops. Obviously, it's a guy being chased by thugs. I raise my eyebrow. Maybe this isn't the smartest thing to do.

"Roy, are you sure we should be here?" I say in a low voice.

"I'm sure," he looks at me. Then he takes an arrow and shoots it. In a few moments, I hear a loud explosion. He's shot one of the trash cans which has now exploded in flames. The thugs all fly back and cry out. One of them starts swearing and looks around for the person who did that.

"What is that?!" I say.

"These guys have been terrorizing Gotham long enough," Roy tells me. He's completely calm and collected. Is THIS what he does at night? I look at him, completely freaked out. Before I know it, he's shooting them off one by one. There are about five of them, then seven, and then three of those seven fall to the floor crying out in pain.

After we caused enough calamity, he quickly guides me back into the shadows.

"Who were those guys?" I ask. "And why were you shooting at them?"

He takes a while to respond. Then he tells me I ask too many questions.

I glare at him. Does he _know_ how weird this looks?

"They're from one of the biggest mobs in town," he later tells me. I'm gathering up my stuff to leave. "The Whittaker mob."

I nod slowly.

"They're always causing trouble in this neighborhood. Kidnapping people, extortion, all that fun stuff."

"So what can we do?" I shrug.

"We can fight back," he looks at me and I realize that he's serious about it. "Maybe we can't take down a whole mob but we can help fight crime in this city."

"You're only one person, Roy."

"You can help me," he says gruffly. He gets up and makes some coffee. "Think about it, Thomas."

Little did he know, he wouldn't need too much help.

And I was surprised. By the time I got home and parked my shiny new car in the driveway, I actually was starting to think about it.

Some crazy things were bound to happen. And more than ever, my own family would be involved in it.


	6. Mind Controlled

"Dad?" I ask. "What are you doing?"

It's 2:30 at night. My dad's sitting in the kitchen which is completely dark except for the slant of moonlight that falls through the kitchen window. The lights are all off.

"Dad?" I repeat.

* * *

 **7 HOURS EARLIER**

Ow.

I'm lying on my back in the desert, staring up at the hot sun. This is how I spend my Saturdays, apparently, in 100+ degree weather getting my ass kicked by my mentor. "Get up," Roy says roughly. "We're not finished yet." I stand up and wipe the sweat off my brow. "Let's take a break."

"No breaks allowed," he replies lightly.

So there we are again, sparring. Did I already mention how it is? The sun is beating down on my back and I feel like I'm about to faint from the heat. Worst of all, Roy's just landed a searing kick to my side which I've barely managed to block. Still, the pain radiates through my arms. Just as his defense is low, I raise my arm and land a hook to the right. It connects and he jumps back, clutching his face.

"Right." He says. "Let's take a break then."

I roll my eyes and chuckle.

We head into a nearby tent that Roy set up. There's a cooler nearby with water, soda and beer (for him, of course). I take a bottle of water and start drinking, staring out into the heat. "How are you feeling?" he asks. We sit in silence for a moment until I say, "Fine. I guess." I look down at my hands and all the red blisters on my knuckles. "Considering."

Roy chuckles and glances down at my hands. "You'll feel better in a couple of days."

I take a sip of water and don't reply to this.

"Anyway," he says, getting up and stretching. "You've been getting stronger. And faster." He looks at me over his shoulder as he picks up his phone. "I could almost say I'm proud of you."

I smile at this and look down at my feet. My sneakers are dusty yellow and ruined.

"Who brought you into this, Roy?" I ask.

"What do you mean?" he's scrolling through his phone a few feet away.

"I mean, did you have a mentor or someone who trained you? Or did you just pick this up on your own?"

"I did have a mentor," a slow smile slides onto his face. "He's right there." I narrow my eyes at him. "Nice try."

"No, really, look."

I look up and see a blonde man approaching us. His blonde hair is tied back with a headband and he's wearing a green tanktop. He smiles at me and I smile back. "Thomas, this is Oliver Queen. My mentor."

"It's nice to meet you," I say. We shake hands for a little bit until Oliver walks past me to grab a beer from the cooler. "So," he says, sipping his beer. He looks at Roy, then at me. "I heard someone needed some training."

* * *

After sunset, Roy and I are heading back into the city. I feel like my limbs have been partially torn off. That's how much pain I feel right now. Oliver and Roy both said it was normal. "It gets better, in about, let's say three months," Oliver had joked. At least, I hope he was joking.

Even though I just met Oliver today, it feels like I've known him for much longer. He's pretty honest, down to earth and sarcastic – just like me. And we get along because of that. After exchanging numbers, he insisted that we meet up again for archery lessons.

For a moment, I thought about school. Hey, maybe I wanted to join the track team instead or join the school newspaper club. And what about my classes? Chemistry was getting to be a real pain in the ass. But then I got flashbacks. Flashbacks of the Brisby Killers holding a gun to my head. About how my mom was almost going to lose her soon. I was close to never seeing Babs again, either.

I need this, a voice told me. Even if I don't become one of Gotham's masked heroes, at least I'll know how to protect myself.

So I said yes. And I meant it.

When Roy drops me off and I give him a tired wave goodbye, I watch as his truck roars off into the distance. One of my curious neighbors pokes her head out of the window to watch. I head inside of my house where my mom's cooking dinner. Inside, the living room and kitchen are full of warmth, laughter and the sound of the television. My dad's watching the news and my mom is putting down a plate of dinner on the table.

Even though we could easily afford to hire a cook, my mom has always insisted on cooking for us instead. And cleaning. No maids, cooks, chefs or housekeepers here.

"Thomas!" she says. "You're home!"

"Hey mom," I say, dropping my gym bag on the floor.

"How was training, son?" my dad asks from the living room. I hug my mom, grab a cold soda from the fridge and head over to join my dad on the couch.

"It was okay."

The news reporter is droning on about some party that Bruce Wayne is throwing. My dad and I watch in silence. Eventually he asks me how Babs and I are doing. I take out my phone and peek at it. There's a missed call from Babs. I glance at my dad. "She's doing well," I say. "Which reminds me, I need to call her back."

"Alright." He smiles at me briefly before turning his attention back to the television. I get up and walk out into my back porch, where it's quiet except for the sound of crickets chirping. There's a full moon tonight and I'm staring at it as the phone rings.

"Hello?"

"Hey," I say. Just at the sound of her voice, I find myself smiling. "What's up?"

I feel her smiling over the phone. "Not much. Where have you been today?"

"I was training…" I sigh and sit down on a chair. I tell her about the training session I had today with Oliver and Roy.

"Sounds rough," she tells me. Then there's a slight pause before she says, "But are you telling me that this 'Roy' is really fighting crime around the city with a bow and arrow?"

"Yeah," I roll my eyes. "Like that Green Arrow guy…"

"Don't tell anyone though." I add hastily.

"No, no," she says. "I won't. How are you, by the way? Are your injuries getting better?"

I look at my bruised knuckles. At least three of them scraped today and drew blood. The injuries I received months earlier from getting kidnapped have all almost healed. But now I have new injuries. That I probably won't be able to hide from Babs at school on Monday.

"Fine." I say. "I'm fine. How are you?"

She ignores my question and tells me that I should be careful. The masked vigilantes protecting this city are putting their lives in danger and go through some seriously messed up things, she says. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt," she finishes. "And I don't want your family to worry about you, Thomas."

I tell her not to worry. There's an elephant in the room. Or actually, an elephant over the telephone wires. It's somewhat obvious now that we're both keeping secrets from each other. But what kind?

* * *

"Dad?" I turn on the lights.

My heart flips when I see that he's got a gun on the table before him. "What the hell?!"

"338."

I look up and see a woman sitting at the head of the table. She's got blonde yellow hair and pale, almost deathly white, skin. "Who are you?!" I shout. She repeats the phrase again. And somehow, I find myself getting dizzy. I hold onto the countertop. Then I recognize her. It's that woman… the one that I thought was a teacher.

I can feel her drawing closer to me and the phrase keeps repeating. I fall onto the cold tile floor.

Then I hear it. My mom's scream. As my consciousness fades to black, I just hear the sound of my mother screaming as I look up at the kitchen lights.

Suddenly, whatever hold this woman has on me starts to loosen. With all the strength I can conjure up, I force myself up and see the woman trying to strangle my mother. "Mom!" I try to shout. My words come out choked and stuttered.

I grab a vase and fling it at the woman as if it were a baseball. It hits her right in the head and smashes into pieces. My mother falls to the floor as the woman howls in pain, clutching her head. She whirls on me and I get a peek at her eyes, which are bloodshot and full of insanity and hate. Whoever this woman is, she's not all the way there.

I quickly crawl under the table, running away from this woman. She pursues me.

"Men," she says. "Taking cheap shots like they always do."

She grabs me by the arm and flings me into the wall. I cry out and feel a searing pain in my spine. Then she reaches forward and tries to hit me in my face. Somehow, I manage to dodge it and I land a flying kick into her stomach. She flies backward and I'm stunned for a moment. I did that? Whoa.

I quickly run, panicking and wondering if I'm in a dream. As she starts whirling dishes at me across the room, I realize that this is far from a dream. I quickly throw open the door of my closet, using it as a shield.

"Come out, come out…" she sings.

This woman is bat-shit CRAZY.

I feel something in the darkness of the closet. When I look down, I realize what it is. My gym bag. My heart beating quickly, I pull out my bow and arrow. Just as she nears, I slam my bow into her shoulder. She screams out in anger and then it comes again: "338."

After she finishes the last syllable, I fall to my knees. What is this? I can't move. I stare into the distance.

She starts laughing and I can hear every word. "You surprised me for a hot second…" she sneers, her pale eyes looking into mine. "But you are just like the rest of them." She lands a punch in my jaw and starts hitting me over and over again.

"Hold it right there, Gretel!"

The woman turns her head just as a yellow flying object flies into her face. She falls back onto the floor, clutching her head. Dang. This woman cannot dodge flying objects.

And there's Batgirl.

Saving my ass.

Like always.

The woman gets up and then she looks at me. "Kill her. Kill Batgirl."

Against my will, my body's moving and I have my bow and arrow in my hands. Batgirl's eyes widen. "Thomas," she says. "No…"

I shoot an arrow and she dodges behind a couch. Then I shoot another. And another.

She runs towards me and an arrow lands right in her upper thigh. The crazy woman, whose wig has fallen off (she's bald and crazy), now pulls out a sword and walks to us.

Batgirl dodges the woman's attacks and I'm amazed at how she fights. She manages to land every punch and kick into this crazy woman. She lands one final uppercut and the woman does a backflip into the air before landing on her back. She howls in pain and blood is all over the tiled floor.

"What are you doing here, Gretel?!" Batgirl walks over and picks up the woman by her shirt. Gretel looks back at her.

"I'm here to kill that damn accountant."

My dad?

Even though Gretel and Batgirl are speaking, suddenly, I can't hear anything except for a humming. I can see police sirens lighting up the windows. Then, blackness.


	7. A Boy and an Arrow

"Thomas?"

I open my eyes weakly.

"Thomas?"

Green eyes are looking into mine.

"Batgirl?" I try to say, but it comes out as a cough.

"Shh… lay back. You're still hurt."

After a few moments, I wake up again. I'm in a hospital room and it's the middle of the day. I hear a beeping sound. I look up at the ceiling. What happened? Then it all comes back to me. The night before. I try to sit up but it feels like I've been stabbed in the stomach. Then I remember Gretel hitting and beating me relentlessly.

But what about my parents?

I see an emergency button and slam my finger on it as many times as I can.

A nurse comes over in a few seconds. She's got tan skin and dark black hair and is holding a chart. "Hey," she says, annoyed. "You can stop pressing that thing."

"Where are my parents?" I ask before she can say anything else.

"Your father just came by to visit. He should still be here," she says.

"Where's my mother?"

She shakes her head. "I'm sorry, I don't know. Please hold on. I'll go get the doctor."

My father comes in just as the nurse is leaving. He looks tired. More tired than I've ever seen him. He walks towards me and sits down quietly. "Thomas," he says and he puts his hands over my right hand. Tears fall down his face. "Your mother didn't make it."

I'm blank for a moment. His words don't register.

"What do you mean she didn't make it?" I ask.

He stares at me, tears wetting his eyes and falling down his face.

And then it hits me.

* * *

"Hey."

I turn and see Roy beside me. I'm sitting on a roof, looking up at the big bright moon ahead.

"Hey," I smile.

"I heard about your mom…" he says.

"I know."

"Sorry."

I shrug and turn to look at him. "You were right, though."

"About what?"

I stand up and aim my arrow at a man who's running off with a woman's purse. "Gotham needs heroes."


	8. Strange Consequences

Hey everyone! Thanks for all your support. I am very happy that you are enjoying this story. I will be finishing it sometime in the next two weeks. There are some exciting things planned for Thomas! Please stay tuned. – A.R.

 **STRANGE CONSEQUENCES**

Babs covers her eyes and I can't help but laugh at how cute she is. We're sitting in a movie theater, watching a horror movie. As the girl on-screen is getting stabbed repeatedly, Babs keeps watching through the slants of her fingers. "Ew, ew, ew," she mumbles.

"Okay," I kiss her softly on the forehead as she puts her hands down. "It's over."

After the movie ends and the lights slowly come back on, Babs and I exit the theater and walk out into the bright day.

It's been two months and eleven days since my mother's death. Every single day, without fail, I visit her at West Heights Cemetery. She's buried next to my grandparents. It's a cool Autumn day. Babs and I are standing side-by-side in front of my mother's grave. I put down the bouquet of flowers I bought from a nearby flower store. They're orchids, which are my mother's favorite flowers.

Barbara reaches out and her hand clasps mine. I smile softly as I stare down at my mom's grave.

"She was a good woman," Babs says. "She wanted to make Gotham a better place."

And look where it took her, a bitter voice whispers.

"Yeah," I reply. Barbara's hand then goes to my back and she nestles her head under my arm. "I love you." She murmurs.

"I love you too." I give her another soft kiss on the top her head before craning my neck. Her lips meet mine. They're soft, slightly wet and taste like strawberry chapstick. I close my eyes, feeling that glimmer in my stomach like I always do when we're close together. I wrap my arms tightly around her waist, pulling her close to me.

But the whole time we're together, I know that we're both holding secrets. She has her secrets and I have mine.

Secretly, I suspect she's involved in some sort of gang activity. She shows up with bruises sometimes and she disappears a lot. I don't know when it will be right time to approach her about it. But I don't want to scare her away. I've decided just to wait.

She suspects me too. I also show up with bruises and I come into school some days half-asleep. Hey, I still manage to get straight A's though (alright, you caught me – one B). I just don't get much sleep, nowadays.

* * *

After visiting the cemetery with me, Babs decides to go catch up with her friend Alysia. Meanwhile, I head to over to Oliver's house.

When the door opens, I'm greeted with a big hug.

"Hey Dinah." I say, as she hugs me tightly and hugs me off my feet. "Whoa, there." Dinah, also known as the Black Canary, has long blonde hair that falls down to the middle of her back. She's got great curves too… but don't tell Babs I said that.

She puts me down and closes the door. "Olly!" she shouts. "Guess who's here?"

Oliver comes out from the back holding a can of beer. "Hey kid," he says. "What's up?"

"Not much," I tell him. I head into the kitchen and take a can of soda before following him into the back where Roy is punching a sandbag. He stops when I come in and walks over to me. "Hey kid." When he tries to swipe my soda from me, I swiftly dodge it then take a sip. "Get your own soda," I grin.

"Well, well, well," Roy crosses his arms. "If I had known you were this bratty, I wouldn't have mentored you."

"Nice joke," I laugh.

Before anyone of us can speak, I hear a name on the television.

"…Theodore Rankin has been released from Blackgate Penitentiary."

What?

I look at Roy, who nods and turns up the volume.

"He is expected to arrive back home by the end of today, where his friends and family wait to greet him. Despite the mayor of Gotham himself authorizing his early release, protestors stand outside city hall with signs demanding that Rankin be sent back to jail."

The camera switches back to a crowd of people protesting outside city hall.

"This is Gotham City News, signing out."

When the report ends, the sitcom that was playing immediately comes back on. Just as the laugh track plays, Roy, Oliver and I look at each other. "Shit." Roy says.

Shit… is right.

"What are you going to do?" Oliver asks me.

"How did he get released this early?" I shake my head. "He murdered all these people."

"It's the old story," Roy crosses his buff arms and looks out the window. "Corrupt politicians and bribes."

"He can't get away with it."

"Well, what are we going to do then?" Oliver asks me. I look at him and realize that he's studying me very carefully. So I shrug and say that I don't know. But really, a small voice inside of me is calling out for revenge.

After hanging out with Oliver, Roy and Dinah watching television, working out and eating pretzels, I decide to leave. It's already well past 8 and it's a school night. Roy decides to leave with me. When we walk out of the house and into the cold night air, Roy turns to look at me. "Hey," he says. "Tell me how you really feel about Rankin's release."

I wait to compose my thoughts carefully before speaking.

"Shit happens."

He looks at me for a long time. Finally, he says "don't do anything that I wouldn't do."

"I won't."

He reaches forward and gives me a hug which I accept. When he releases me, he winks and walks off. I get back into my shiny new car. Sigh. I've been meaning to sell this off but haven't had the time to.

There won't be anyone waiting for me at home anyway. My dad and I moved into a new house, a bigger one than we had already. But he is always out on 'business trips'. I followed him once. He's not on business trips. More like brothels, nightclubs, and seedy hotels. I don't understand my dad anymore, but sometimes it feels like I never really knew **who** he was.

Then it hits me.

A memory comes back as vivid as daylight.

 ** _I came here to kill that damn accountant!_**

Gretel had said that. She came just to kill my father.

But why? I stop the car by the side of the road and stare down at the wheel, thinking.

What did my dad do?

With resolve, I start my car back up and make a U-turn. My wheels screech as I amp the gas and drive towards the city's seediest neighborhood. Houses give ways to apartment buildings which then morph into seedy motels and old warehouses. I hit the brakes and stop my car in front of a building with an electric pink sign that says Sin Kitty in cursive letters.

* * *

There's a few people lingering outside. Three thugs stand outside, with two women in fishnets beside them. I walk into the club staunchly avoiding any eye contact. The club's inside is hazy and filled with smoke. Loud music booms in my ears. A tattooed and naked woman leisurely hangs off a pole and for a second, we make eye contact. She winks at me and I look away, searching for my father.

And there he is.

Without failure, this is where he is most Wednesday nights. Not at home with his son but at the strip club.

"Hey." I say. My dad's laughing and talking to a bunch of sleazy woman. One of them has platinum blonde hair and violet contacts on. She notices me and starts laughing. "Hey, little boy, does your mommy know you're here?" she giggles. This makes my dad turn and finally see me. I'm standing there with my arms crossed.

"It's just me, your son." I say looking straight into my dad's brown eyes.

In a few moments, my dad and I are outside in the alley talking. It smells like trash and a black cat walks leisurely across a trash can lid.

"Dad," I say. He smells like booze. "You never come home anymore."

"I know, I know," he shakes his head. "I'm sorry, Thomas, I've been the shittiest dad."

I don't argue with him. Then I say, "just come home with me. Right now."

He looks over my shoulder. "I… I can't."

"Why not?"

"You don't understand, Thomas." His voice starts to shake. "There is someone I need to meet tonight."

"What?" I give a bitter laugh. I shake my head. "Are you a gigolo or something?"

"No…" he looks at the floor.

And even though it kills me, I decide to not ask him about Gretel. Instead, I let him leave. He heads back into the nightclub and I watch him sit back with the crowd of women who all start cooing and laughing. Without a word, he takes out a fat stack of bills. I shake my head.

I sit at the bar where the bartender asks me what I'm having.

"Nothing. Thanks."

He glares at me before walking away.

"Sure you don't want to ask for some water or orange juice?" a sultry voice asks.

I turn and see a woman with piercing green eyes. She's got long black hair that falls in curls around her shoulders and pouty red lips. I give her the briefest of smiles before turning my eyes back to my dad.

"You don't look old enough to be here," she says again.

I give her a sideways glance. "I'm not. But it's not like they care."

"No…" then she leans forward and I take in the smell of perfume. It's hot, heavy and I like it more than I want to admit. "What's a kid like you doing here by himself at night?"

"Long story." I say. "Basically, keeping an eye on my dad."

"What's wrong with your dad?"

"A lot. Can't really go into details right now though."

In a few moments, a man walks out from the back of the club. He's old and wrinkled, wearing dark sunglasses (indoors?) and has a cigar between his fingers. He makes his way to my dad, who now gets up and is talking with him. I narrow my eyes. Then I realize who that man is. It's Ford Whittaker, the head of the Whittaker mob family.

What are they talking about?

"Can you hold my purse, kid?"

I turn to look at the woman but she's already gone. There's a purse sitting on the countertop. It's in the shape of a cat. Okay…what do I do now? Stay here and guard her purse or see why the hell my dad's talking to the head of one of the biggest mob families in the city?

While I'm trying to decide, a commotion breaks out.

"Boss!" a thug comes running out from the back shouting. "She's got it!"

"What?!" Ford Whittaker snaps.

"The necklace! It's gone!"

Immediately, as if emerging from the shadows, a gang of thugs appear out of nowhere and start storming the club. Women start screaming, tables are overturned, drinks spill and glasses start shattering. The bartender runs out for his life.

"Dad!" I shout, making my way through the crowds but I don't see him. I look around as people push past me out the doorway.

I run back to the bar, which is now empty. The purse is still there until the same woman comes out, breathless and with glittering, excited eyes. "Thanks," she winks at me and turns to leave. She leans in to kiss me on the cheek and I notice something that I hadn't seen on her before. A glimmering gold necklace. I run after her and see her get on her motorcycle which roars to life. On instinct, I grab a bike and start wheeling after her at light-speed.

I have a feeling she's got something to do with all this.

I'm pedaling for dear life and my legs feel like they're on fire.

"Whoa!" the lady turns to look at me over her shoulder. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Give me that necklace!" I shout.

"Kid, you better stop if you know what's good for you."

I can't keep up with her. She's too fast.

I grab a trash can lid from a nearby alleyway as I ride after her and fling it like a frisbee. She dodges it, turns her head and sticks her tongue out at me. "Tricks are for kids," she teases. Then she crashes into a sign and is thrown off the bike. She falls onto her back, clutching her stomach. "Ouch."

I stand over her, breathing and panting.

What a crazy night it's been.

…And I have school tomorrow.


	9. Secrets That Destroy

**SECRETS THAT DESTROY**

"Let me have this necklace, okay, kid?" she gets up, rubbing her arms. "I worked hard to get it."

"You mean, you worked hard to steal it."

"Same thing."

I glare at her. "What do you know about Ford Whittaker?"

"What do you want to know?" she crosses her arms. We're alone in a dark alleyway between two huge apartment buildings that scale into the sky. "He's a mob boss, duh…" she says, picking at her nails.

"Well, what about Jared Green?" I ask.

"You mean that accountant of his?" she laughs. "I think he's the one who helps Whittaker launder money around all the banks in the city."

I'm quiet.

"How do you know that?"

"I…" she stretches her arms out. "I know everything."

"Well, what about Gretel?" I lean back on a wall.

She gives me a coy smile and asks me to give her one good reason why she should give me any more information.

"I'll let you keep that necklace if you tell me," I say darkly. "But if you don't tell me, I'll snatch it right off you."

She rolls her eyes. "You're spunky and cute. I like that. But why don't you buy me some coffee first?"

I glance at my watch. It's past 12.

Well, why not?

In a few moments, we're sitting in a booth in a 24-hour diner. The waitress puts down two cups of coffee in front of us. Old music is playing.

The strange woman sips her coffee.

"So," she asks. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

I ignore her question. "Tell me what you know about Gretel."

"What I hear is that she was all sorts of crazy. Rumor has it she was a journalist who got caught trying to investigate the Whittakers. She was in his office and they found a tape recorder on her. Well, you can probably figure out the rest of the story on your own…"

This was strange.

"Then what happened?"

"They killed her. Tortured her first before dumping her body out of the window. But somehow, she survived. Or maybe she died and came back to life…" the woman rolls her eyes. "Dunno. Either way, she went after Ford Whittaker. After Ford got away, his son was found on the street one morning with multiple stab wounds."

I stare at her, then look down at my coffee.

"Why would she target my father, though?"

"Is your father Jared?"

I look at her.

She shrugs. "If your dad is Jaren Green, then he was probably there when they killed her. And as far as I know, he's pretty rich. She must hate that while she almost lost her life, your dad and the others who were involved are still going through life merrily without any consequences for their actions."

This makes me clench my fists.

"There _were_ consequences."

So if my dad was there when Gretel was killed and she came to our house just to get revenge on him, it means that he was the one who indirectly murdered my mother. Thinking this over, I almost feel like I want to die. I hold my head in my hands for a moment, not wanting to feel or think anymore. I'm just… tired. Bone tired.

"Well," she says as she gets up. "Thanks for the coffee. I gotta go."

I don't look up as she walks past me and leaves the shop.

My phone starts to buzz, breaking me out of my thoughts. I look at it. The caller ID says Babs and there's a picture of us two together. I pick it up. "Hello?"

"Hey," her voice is warm and soft. "Where are you?"

"Home…" I lie. I get up and walk out of the shop and into the dark streets.

"Right…" there's silence.

Then, for some reason, I look up and see someone on top of a building that's only about ten stories high. I look away.

"What about you?" I ask. I walk down the street towards my car, shivering as I put my other hand into my hoodie. By some miracle, my car hasn't been broken into and is sitting there perfectly intact. I get in and start the car up. I could go after my dad and try to save him, but honestly, I don't even care right now.

A voice inside of me though is crying out for revenge.

Not just revenge against my dad, but against Ford Whittaker. Against Rankin.

What does revenge do to people, I wonder?

"I'm just thinking about you…" her voice starts to get fuzzy. "Tom, is everything alright?"

"Of course," I laugh. I back my car out and drive home. It's pitch black except for the hazy yellow glow of the street lights. I just realize that I didn't finish my homework today and I have a midterm tomorrow morning. I smile as best as I can.

"Everything's fine, Babs."


	10. A Bat and Arrow

**A BAT AND ARROW**

And so, I wait for my dad to come home.

It's a Saturday night and I'm in the living room of our new house which has sparse furniture. Despite the fact that we have more rooms, there are less people living here (just my dad and me), and it feels… empty. Dead inside. Like a cold shell. I take a sip of my water and continue to read my Kindle. Glancing up, I finally see his headlights approaching.

The door opens and my dad stands in the doorway drenched in rain. He wipes the rain off his brow.

"Hey," he smiles. "I got you something."

He holds up a soggy fast food bag.

We sit at the counter island and eat quietly. Finally, he looks up and for the first time in months we make eye contact. "I'm sorry," he says. "I've been a shitty dad."

I close my eyes and rest my head on my hand. "I haven't been the best son, either."

Another moment passes and he asks if I'll forgive him.

I look at him. "Tell me about Gretel."

His eyes widen in surprise before softening in understanding. "Right," he sighs. Then he goes on to tell me exactly what I know. He was involved. He had seen the tape recorder in Gretel's bag and proceeded to rat her out to Ford. After that, they tortured her mercilessly and threw her out the window. "It was wrong," he says slowly and I fix my eyes on the window over his shoulder. It's raining outside and the sky is dark blue. "But it's what we have to do in this city to survive."

"Why are you working with Whittaker?" I shake my head. "Dad, I never knew that you were involved in all this…"

"To give your mom and you a good home." He sits a little straight and sticks up his chin. "To provide for my family."

"Why didn't you just be a normal accountant?" I scoff. "Without all the… the extra stuff you did? The laundering? Taking bribes?"

"Did it ever occur to you that they would hurt us if I didn't cooperate?" he asks, his voice growing angrier. "I didn't have a choice." He stands up, pushing his chair back and begins to walk away. Then he stops and looks over his shoulder. "If I could, I would do it all over again."

I clench my teeth as he starts to walk away again.

"You killed mom."

The statement comes out, steely, cold and clear. He turns to look at me. "Yes…" he finally says. "I did. And I'm sorry."

He goes upstairs.

After he disappears, I run into my room where I throw open my closet. There's a secret door which I open and pull out a blue hoodie. I zip it up, slip on my rugged jeans, throw on a pair of sneakers and head out with my gym bag. As I walk out from my warm house and into the cold, shattering rain, I slam the door behind me.

It's time to fight crime.

* * *

As I patrol the streets, scaling from building to building, I spot some men vandalizing a store. I head down the ladder, my bow and arrow in hand. It's a candy store and they're demolishing everything in sight. One of them has a bat and he smashes open a display of gumballs which litter to the floor in thousands. I stretch my arm back and position my arrow right at his arm.

"Ack!"

The vagrant's clutching his arm now and bleeding profusely and the others all start scrambling around. I chuckle, pulling out arrow after arrow. Then I pull out one of my special ones which is charged with electricity. "Ready or not…" I aim the arrow and am ready to shoot when suddenly, there's a sharp pain in my jaw.

In a few seconds, I'm on the floor and my bow scatters to the distance. I look up and come face to face with dark eyes. It's Batman.

"Who are you?" he asks, his voice dark and low.

Before replying, I throw back my elbow and try to land a hit to his face. He dodges and I keep throwing punch after punch. Finally, one of my punches meets and that's when he grabs my arm and twists it behind me. "Ow!"

"You're just a kid." He says. It comes out as more of a question than a statement. By the time he lets me go, the candy store is empty. I'm breathing heavily.

"Go home." He tells me.

"No."

His eyes narrow.

"We need people to protect this city." I say. "I'm tired of seeing people get killed. Tired of the corruption. It's time we do something."

"You can't help."

"Yes," I raise my chin defiantly. "I can. I have."

He looks at me for a long time.

"Fine. But don't expect anyone to save you if you get into trouble."

Before I can say anything, he's gone.


	11. It's My Secret

**IT'S MY SECRET.**

The next day at school, I get my chemistry test back. Great. I failed it. With a sigh, I slip my test back into my folder and head out for lunch. I'm in my sophomore year now and my body is changing every day. I'm getting growth spurts left and right. If my mom were still here, I'd be several heads taller than her. My doctor tells me at this rate, I'll be a little over 6 feet when I'm eighteen. I guess that's a good thing?

Well, it doesn't do so well when you're trying to camouflage. Though, I suppose it's good for running. Maybe I should join track team.

After I get my lunch tray (a sandwich, tater tots and a carton of milk), I take a seat at an empty table to wait for Babs. I eventually see her in line laughing and talking to another girl, who I know as Alysia Yeoh. Chewing my sandwich, I wait for her to notice me. When she does, the sparkles in her green eyes grow a little brighter. We smile at each other for a moment until she gets her lunch and comes my way. Alysia follows.

"Hey," I say as they both sit down in front of me (Barbara directly across).

"Hey Thomas." Alysia says.

"How was class?" Babs asks opening her carton of milk. She takes a sip and looks at me.

I shake my head and shrug.

"That bad?"

"Yeah."

We end up laughing together.

"You guys are weird," Alysia suddenly says.

"What?" we look at her.

"Do you ever notice how you both laugh at the same time? Strange how couples do that."

I look at Babs who's looking at me. Then we look away, suppressing the urge to giggle.

"Alysia!" a voice shouts. I turn to see another table of people calling her over. Oh. Those are the 'hippies' of the school. The ones who protest at all types of events. "Come here!" one of them, a punk-rocker girl with a stud in her nose, beckons her over.

"Well, I'll leave you two love-birds alone." Alysia winks. She gets up and leaves.

"So…" I say. "Got any tests this week?"

Babs rolls her eyes. "No, but I just got my tests back. I don't want to talk about it."

"Mmm. Understandable." After a moment passes, I ask her about her father.

"He's okay," she looks out the window then back at me. A smile slides onto her face. "You know, he's fine like always."

"Good."

"I haven't seen you for awhile."

"I know."

"That's why you have to take me out on a date after school."

"Alright," I lean forward and kiss her softly on the forehead. "It's a promise. Where do you want to go?"

"The amusement park!" she says. I pat her on the head gently, stroking her soft red hair.

"Okay," I say. "I'll meet you at your locker after school."

"Okay." She smiles back.

The bell rings.

* * *

After school, we head to the amusement park which is out of the city and near the beach. "So…" she says as my car buzzes out into the freeway away from all that oppressive traffic. "I heard about Rankin being released."

I glance out the window and think quietly.

"Are you okay?" she looks at me, concerned.

"Yes," I finally reply. I take a deep breath and then exhale. "There's nothing I can do about it."

"How can he be released in just a few months?" she shakes her head. "This city really is corrupt." She looks out her window as the wind blows gently through her hair.

"It's not your fault," I tell her gently. "And he won't get away with it."

She turns to look at me. "How do you know?"

"I just do." I say. And I reach over and turn the radio up.

* * *

After I park the car, we both get out and are greeted by the smell of the ocean. Babs stretches her arms and yawns. I pull her close to me for a kiss. Her lips are soft and wet as usual. Kissing her just feels natural. I close my eyes and wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her tight against me. She laughs and pulls away and for some reason, I growl.

"Did you just growl?" she asks, bursting into laughter.

I wrap my arms around her waist even tighter as she tries to run and pull her to me. Inhaling the scent of her hair, I bury my face in her neck. "I love you." I say quietly. For a few glorious seconds, there's nothing but the sound of soft waves lapping against the beach and children laughing in the distance.

"I love you too." She tells me.

And then we head into the park, our hands clasped together.

* * *

That night, I pull up to the curb beside Barbara's house.

"Dad!" she says as she gets out of the car and hugs her father. He looks over her shoulder and gives me a slight nod. I smile and nod back. Getting out of the car, I head over and shake his hand. "Hello Commissioner Gordon." I say. "How are you doing today?"

He gives me a skeptical look. "Fine…" after a moment. "And how are you, Thomas?"

"I'm doing well, thank you."

"I heard about your mother."

I smile politely. "Yes."

He reaches forward and puts his hand on my shoulder. "You know we are here for you if you are ever in need." His brown eyes are full of kindness. My smile becomes warmer.

Even though they ask me to stay for dinner, I decide not to. My excuse is that it's a school night, but actually, I have something else planned.

I head back to my empty house. Dad's not home… as always. It's dark, empty and quiet. I flip open the lights revealing a huge living room that leads into a shiny new kitchen. A soulless kitchen. Without my mother's warmth to make it alive again. There's a picture of her on the mantel and I pick it up and look at it. I bite my lip and shake my head, my tears blurring my eyes. "Don't worry mom," I say quietly. "I'll help you get revenge."

In the basement of my house, I've been working on making a new poison-tipped arrow. I've been sampling with different toxins and have finally settled on one that paralyzes my opponent. They can breathe, they can see and blink, but they cannot move or talk… or scream. Now it's time to put these arrows to the test. They're tipped in green and I slide them into my arrow containers.

Yeah, I failed my chemistry exam but that doesn't mean I'm bad at science.

Then I walk over to a dresser in my basement and throw the doors open to reveal my blue hoodie and blue gloves. Who needs a flashy superhero outfit?


	12. A Face Full Of Glass

**A FACE FULL OF GLASS**

I need to get revenge, I think as I ride my bicycle. It's pitch dark outside. Who knows where my dad is? One of these days, they might just find him dead in an alleyway somewhere. I can't say I'll be angry if that happens though. Until I do take revenge on Ford Whittaker, I need to test my arrows out on none other than my dear, douchebag cousin Ted.

I leave my bike in the darkness before scaling around his three story house. His parents are home and fighting in the living room. I can hear their loud voices and wince.

"I DON'T HAVE UNDERWEAR LIKE THAT, ALEX!" Ted's mom is screaming. "TELL ME WHO THIS SLUT IS!"

"I told you…" his dad's voice rumbles. "I don't know who those belong to!"

I'm crouched in the bushes in Ted's backyard, waiting. Looks like I don't have to provide a distraction. His parents are distracting each other and doing my job for me. There's a tense silence and for a moment, I think Ted's mom is going to storm out.

But instead, Ted's dad speaks and says, "Well… maybe they're the housekeepers'! Maybe she forgot them here."

I wince. Wow. That was… stupid.

"YOU IDIOT!" Ted's mom explodes. "SHE'S SIXTY-TWO YEARS OLD!"

I shake my head.

And there Ted is. He's writing in a journal and looking bored. There's a house monitor attached to his ankle. His back is to the window. There's some sort of wooden structure that leads from the first floor to an open window on the third story where Ted's room is at. It's covered with ivy and roses. I flex my hands before grabbing hold of the first posts and climbing as quickly and quietly as I can.

My heart jumps a little when one of the stands breaks and I almost fall, but thankfully, I manage to get up and into the window in little to no time.

Holding my breath, I'm in an elegant carpeted hallway lined with happy family portraits. There's Ted with his old dog, Shay, who passed away three years ago. And then there's Ted and his brother. There's Ted and his friends (who are all still rotting in jail, by the way). There's a portrait of Ted's parents smiling happily together.

I stop for a brief moment. Did they know back then how miserable their lives would be together?

Then I wonder about my own relationship with Babs. No, I tell myself. I'd never treat Babs like that. She means the world to me. At the thought of her, I feel guilty. What if she knew what I was doing right now?

I near his door and hear him writing. Then music playing. Screamo music starts to play. Ted's parents are still arguing loudly downstairs. Taking my arrow, I slowly aim it at Ted's back.

There's a slight thump as it sticks to his back like a pin into a pin cushion. He gives a slight grunt before falling forward onto the table. When I walk over to him, his eyes are still blinking and moving around rapidly. At this point, in this lighting, all he can see is a darkened face inside of a blue hoodie. There's a slight groaning.

So my formula works. I put my finger to my lips.

Then I hear a slight creak behind me. Whirling around, I barely dodge a fist from someone who I didn't see. Crap. It's some guy in a black costume. He's wearing a mask and I can see my reflection in a myriad of different shards. He pulls out a gun and tries shooting but I fly behind a dresser and hurl it at him with all my might. It comes crashing down.

He comes barreling through and his large hands are around my throat, squeezing and choking me. Trying to get out of his grip, I start kicking my legs and miraculously, one of them lands. I throw my knee up and it collides with his chin, drawing blood. Just as his defense is low, I grab an arrow and stab it straight into his chest.

It doesn't paralyze him though. His fist comes at me sideways and I barely manage to dodge it as it slams into the wall breaking through the plaster with a victorious crumble. I hear a scream. Ted's parents are here.

"Run!" I shout at them. They're standing in the doorway, horrified. Ted's dad is holding his phone. "GET AWAY!" I'm aware I look crazy right now. Blood is streaming down my nostrils and I'm preeettyy sure I'm going to miss class tomorrow.

"You're not the one I want." The man says as Ted's parents run like hell for leather. We're standing face to face, both breathing and panting heavily. He slowly slides my arrow out of his flesh and breaks it in half.

"Who is the one you want, then?"

I'm looking at my own reflection… except it's broken in shards. It's like looking into a funhouse mirror. One of my reflections is grotesquely stretched out, another is contorted into a smaller shape.

"Him." He points a finger at Ted, whose eyes are still moving around frantically.

"You can't have him." I finally say. "He's mine."

"You're on my list too, then."

And with that, he flies forward and we start fighting again. I'm barely dodging his attacks and the punches and kicks I do land only manage to slow him down. Eventually, I'm thrown out the window. I hear myself crashing through the glass and feel air beneath me.

"Thomas!" a voice shouts.

"Babs?" I ask, confused just as I feel a strong grip on my hoodie. I look up into her eyes and know it's her. It's Batgirl, but now I know it's Barbara. Her face contorts as she pulls me through the second-story window. I land onto the floor, breathing heavily.

"Help Ted," I say, shaking my head. "That guy's got him."

"I know." She smiles at me warmly before leaving in a flash.

Then I black out.


	13. The Birth of a Sparrow

**A NEW SPARROW MORNING**

Yeah. So I missed class again. I know going to my doctor will only raise up more questions, so I find myself limping over to Roy's house after I recover. Thankfully, I was able to regain consciousness and leave before the police arrived.

When he opens the door, Roy's eyes widen. "Whoa," he says. "You look like shit."

Before I fall forward and black out yet again, I notice that one, he's not wearing a shirt and two, there's a girl on the couch behind him.

When I wake up again, I'm in a bed.

"Don't move," Roy says. His face is above mine. "You need to lay back down and rest."

I groan, lying as still as I can on my back.

"What happened?" he asks, getting up and crossing his arms. I tell him in four words: "I got my ass kicked."

"Hmm. Can we say that you were doing something that you shouldn't have been doing?"

"Yep."

"Go to bed," he tells me again. His voice is a blur as I fade back into sleep. "We'll talk about it tomorrow…"

After a few days, I start to recover. My phone's out of battery and I've been out of touch with the outside world for a very, very long time. Who knows if my dad has noticed… or even care. Whatever. By day four, I'm finally walking again and starting to eat. "Look who's up." Roy says, eating an orange in the kitchen. I stop in surprise when I see someone standing at the stove, cooking and humming. Her back is turned to me but I can see she's wearing Roy's t-shirt and boxers. When she turns around, I see a heart-shaped face with almond-eyes and pink lips. "Hey," she says. "Ready for breakfast?"

"Who's this?" I ask. We're all sitting together at the breakfast table with three glasses of orange juice and three plates of steaming bacon, eggs and buttered toast.

"I'm Grace," she smiles brightly and I can't help but feel a little brighter. "Grace Choi."

"Thomas Green." I say. I look at Roy, who's eating his bacon nonchalantly. "So…" I say. "I'm guessing you two are a couple now?"

Grace rolls her eyes. "I don't know if I would call it that."

I wonder if it's just my imagination, but Roy looks like he's a little offended.

"Yeah," he finally says, taking a sip of his orange juice and giving Grace a sideways glance. "We don't want to put labels on anything for now."

Grace is humming as she eats her breakfast.

Now I know how Alysia feels. Sort of.

That reminds me. "Hey," I say. "Where can I charge my phone?"

* * *

When my phone turns on, I see that I have twenty missed text messages. Some are from Babs, some from my dad (surprisingly) and some are from friends at school. Then I see a bunch of voicemails. I dial Babs' number.

"Thomas!" she breathes. I turn on the television and there's a news report playing.

"Where are you?" she asks.

"Hey Babs," I try to sound as non-beaten up as I can but it's not my working. "I'm just resting at a friend's house right now, okay?"

"No," she replies determinedly. "Tell me where you are. Do you know how worried we've all been?"

"You just have to trust me." I say.

There's a short silence. "You're in danger, and I want to help you."

"You can't right now." I smile. "I'll call you again when I can. I love you, Babs."

"Tho-"

I hang up and turn off my phone before tossing it into a corner and burying my head into the pillows. Then I look up. A picture of a man in a suit being led out in handcuffs shows on the television. My eyes narrow.

"Thanks to Batgirl, the man known as Mirror has now been captured and is being sent to Blackgate Prison where he will be detained in high-level security." The news reporter, a blonde woman in a bright blue suit, is talking animatedly. She's standing outside of city hall where people are still protesting. "Meanwhile, protests still reign high in Gotham against the allegations of corruption amongst city officials…"

So she did catch him.

I lay back on my pillow, looking up at the bland white ceiling with my hands intercrossed. Hmm.

Hmmmmmm.

I close my eyes, trying to self-review and think about what I could've done better.

To be honest, I was outmatched.

Maybe I'm not cut out for this masked vigilante thing.

Or maybe, a small smirk slides onto my face, I just need to try harder.

* * *

"We must be crazy as hell." Roy says.

"Yup." Oliver agrees. "And proud of it."

We're standing in Oliver's garage which is filled with knives, bats, arrows and bows. Weapon after weapon line the walls.

"Wait till you check this out," Oliver leads Roy and me to another secret room. "A friend gave this to me."

It's a suit.

"So you're the Green Arrow." I say blandly. Then I look at Roy, whose eyes crinkle in a smile even though his lips don't move. "And you're the Red Arrow."

Without confirming or denying what I've just said, Oliver leans against the counter.

"If you want to fight real crime," Oliver tells me. "You need this suit."

I look at Roy skeptically. "I've never seen you wear one."

He shrugs.

"So wait," Oliver asks me after he's finished presenting all of his gadgets and equipment. We're sitting in his kitchen having dinner. He arches an eyebrow. "What's your name then?"

I pause and think for a moment. Then a smile slides onto my face. I don't want to be a copycat.

"The Blue Sparrow."


	14. Horror Movies: Vigilante Edition

**A ROAD TRIP**

If one walked out of Gotham and into the desert-like outskirts nearby, they would see a small town approaching. The town is strangely quiet except for a howl of wind that bursts through every few moments. Despite looking somewhat deserted, the street lights stay on and the shops still advertise goods for sale. There's a clothing store that sits with mannequins dressed in modern, fashionable clothing and beside it sits a convenience store with an open door and a fan blowing into the late hours of the night no matter what the weather is like.

If you walked into the bank, which sits just a few blocks away from the convenience store, you'd see a mannequin at the counter. The bank, like all the other stores in this city, are open 24/7. The mannequin at the counter wears a blue suit and a stiff smile with gray, rough embalmed hands. Another mannequin stands at the door, and he's a stiff and squat man wearing a blue policeman outfit. The other mannequins in the bank include a young child about to eat a candy (but the candy hasn't reached his mouth for the past year and he's long the past the stage where he can eat anything now) and a woman wearing a fur coat.

There's only one person who still breathes in this town. If you walked past the bank and headed down another row of streets, you'd see a cul-de-sac of pastel suburban buildings. A tasteful Georgian house sits in the middle of the row of plain pastel one-story houses, looking distinguished as ever. In the basement of this house, a man lives. This town is his creation.

* * *

 _THOMAS_

Summer has finally approached and sophomore year has ended. Bab is next to me as I pull up to the curb in front of Alysia's house. It's a bright sunny day and the sunshine bathes our happy faces. A pop song is playing on the radio and Babs is happily humming along. She's wearing an army green tank-top and faded jeans. I'm wearing the suit that Olly made for me.

It looks exactly like a normal blue hoodie. When I put the hoodie on, it conceals my face perfectly. The suit is made of protective Kevlar material and has a quiver in the back which can easily store as many arrows as I need.

We're going on a road-trip to a resort, and there's no reason for me to be wearing the fancy suit that Oliver created, but I decide to wear it just in case. Plus, it makes me feel cool.

"Hey!" Alysia walks out with a bright smile on her face followed by her two friends, Jo and Ramon. Ramon is wearing a black hoodie and jeans while Jo is dressed in a black leather tank-top, black jeans and combat boots. I understand that it's their 'style' and everything, but don't dark colors trap heat?

Nevertheless, as the three of them slide into the back of my car, everyone starts talking animatedly and excitedly. My car roars off into the distance and into the freeway as we embark on a road trip towards the resort a little over two hundred miles away from Gotham.

"Roll down your roof!" Alysia shouts. I look at her over the rearview mirror before rolling down the top of my car. They all start cheering and buzzing. Ramon grins wickedly before holding up a six-pack of beer. "Guess what I got?"

"Don't drink that here." I say.

"Aw," Alysia pouts. "Please, Thomas?"

"No."

"Just save it for later," Babs turns to say.

"Poor Babs," Alysia shakes her head. She pretends (or at least I think she's pretending) to give me a disdainful look in the rearview mirror. "In love with a wet blanket."

Jo and Ramon start laughing while Babs gives me an apologetic smile from the side.

This is going to be a long eight hours.

We're driving into the desert and by this time, three hours have passed. I've rolled back the top of my roof and the air-conditioning is blasting through the vents. In the back, Ramon is texting away at his cell phone while Jo and Alysia lie sleeping next to each other. Alysia's arm lies protectively around Jo's shoulder.

"Thanks, Thomas." Babs says quietly. She slips her hand over mine and we lock eyes for a while and smile. "I'm glad we're here."

"Me too." I say.

"Really?" she asks, raising her eyebrow. "Honestly, you didn't look too excited."

"I am." I roll my eyes. "I just _look_ bored all the time."

She leans forward and kisses me quickly on the cheek. "I still love you!" she laughs and smiles, her whole face lighting up.

"I love you too." I squeeze her hand before turning my eyes back to the road.

Then, all of a sudden, there's a violent crash. The whole car jolts forward and I hear a series of loud popping sounds.

Alysia and Jo start screaming, their arms wrapped around each other as I lost control of the wheel. For some reason, I can't control the car try as I might. "Thomas!" Babs reaches over and tries to maneuver the wheel, but even she can't. After another loud and explosive noise, the car stops with an eerie silence.

We're all quiet. I look at Babs who's looking at me, her green eyes wide in shock. "What happened?" Jo asks.

We all scramble out of the car and I walk over to see that my tires have been completely destroyed. There are sharp objects lying nearby and I crouch, picking one of these objects up to see that they're sharp pieces of steel. They look like thumbtacks. Why would these be out here?

"What's that?" Babs walks over to me.

"Look," I hold the piece of steel up. "This slashed my tires."

She takes it from me and carefully examines it. "Did someone put them here?" she asks.

"I don't know," I say before heading to my car and examining the damage. All of my car's emergency lights are on, flashing in red. Damn. What do we now? Ramon walks next to me and says that the damage is pretty major which is evident from the way my car starts smoking and all the tires are slashed. Parts of my car are also black and burnt, suggesting damage from another source.

We spend a thirty minutes trying to get signal on our cell-phones but I can't even get so much as a dial-tone out.

"What do we do now?" Alysia wipes the sweat off her brow. "We're stuck here in the middle of nowhere."

I glance at my watch and see that we're two hours away from sunset.

"There has to be a gas station or something out here," I say. I sigh and look back at my car. "We'll just have to look around and see."

"Sounds good." Babs tells me.

Before we start walking, we bring a bag filled with water, food and other supplies. When the others have turned away, I surreptitiously grab my pocket blade and hide it into the back pocket of my jeans. "Let's go."

After walking for an hour and a half (with Alysia and her friends complaining all the way), we finally start to see something in the distance. From faraway, it looks like a series of jumbled black and brown shapes. "Hey!" Alysia shades her eyes. "I think that might be a town or something!" Without a word, she starts running towards it leaving the rest of us to follow.

As we draw closer, we see that it is indeed a town. A sign reads WELCOME TO RIDGE VIEW. POPULATION: 338.

The number 338 sends a chill up my spine. And what kind of a town only has a population of 338 people?

"This is weird," Jo says. She looks around, her red eyebrows furrowed. "It's so… quiet here." Her voice echoes.

"But all the shops are open," Ramon murmurs. "Look, there's a gas station right there." We follow him into the gas station where the door to the convenience store is open. Inside, a fan is blowing and old country music is playing.

"This is like something out of a horror movie," Babs says, rubbing her arms.

I pull her close to me. "I'll protect you."

She smiles up at me. "Are you sure it's not me protecting you?"

This makes me raise my eyebrow. Then that suspicion comes back. If she is Batgirl, then it means she's saved _my_ ass tons of times. Which means that I don't _have_ any protecting to do, really.

"Hello?" Alysia rings the bell. "Anyone here?"

I walk over to the concession stand and pick up a bag of chips. I don't recognize the brand and then I notice all the chips in this display are dirty and have been collecting dust. Walking over to the fridge where bottles of soda sit, I notice that they're all old and have been collecting mold.

"Babs?" I say.

She's looking at the magazines and her eyes are wide and disturbed.

"What?" I ask. She holds up a magazine and flips open the pages. My heart stops for a moment. There's a picture of a smiling model but there are holes where her eyes and mouth are. Alysia swears and jumps back. "What the fuck?" she shouts.

Babs puts the magazine back into the stand and says that all the magazines are at least a year old.

"I don't think there's anyone here, either." Ramon shakes his head. "No one's in the back."

Then I look up and see a security camera near the ceiling. A red light is on, indicating that it's recording.

Someone's watching us.

I head over to the counter and walk behind it. I pick up the phone and there's no dial-tone. I expected as much. For the next few seconds, as Alysia and Jo are panicking about being stuck in some creepy abandoned serial-killer town in the middle of nowhere, I force myself to think calmly.

There's power in this city. There's presumably running water as well. But right now, we haven't seen a sign of another human being. Also, the products are all old and outdated and someone has been cutting the faces and eyes out of women in magazines. Where are we? My brain simply comes back with the words, DO NOT COMPUTE, so I walk out with the others following me.

"What do we do now?" Babs asks. She looks at me, her eyebrow raised.

* * *

When we walk outside, we notice that the sky is growing darker by the minute. Nightfall is approaching. "Look at this," Alysia says. She walks over to a clothing store display where mannequins are wearing winter clothes. One is wearing a pale blue expensive-looking scarf and the other is wearing a pink sparkly winter coat. "Is there anyone inside?"

I open the door and peek in. A woman is browsing one of the aisles, her back turned to us. And I spot a man behind the counter, looking down at some catalogs. He's wearing a white shirt with a dark green tie. I walk over to him. "Excuse me."

There's no reply.

"Hello?"

His face is bent forward, still looking soundlessly into the catalog which has pictures of women posing in pretty clothing.

I wave my hand in front of him. He's not real.

"It's a mannequin!" Alysia says.

The woman in the aisle who looks to be browsing is also a mannequin and there's a frightening smile affixed to her face. She looks too happy to be here. Babs rubs her arms in the cool air-conditioning of the store. "Thomas," she shakes her head. "What's going on here?"

I don't reply. Instead, I make way out of the store and head into the convenience store next door. It's already night now and the signs are still alive and glowing in the darkness. "WE ACCEPT FOOD STAMPS" an electric sign buzzes above the convenience store. I open the glass door and there's the sound of a beep announcing my entrance. It's deathly quiet here and I have the feeling I'm not alone.

There's another mannequin. This time, he's got one finger poised above the cash register. He, too, has a big smile on his face like he's just seen something amazing, so amazing that it's driven him to insanity. I shake my head and exhale slightly, picking up the phone next to him. There's a dial-tone. Thank God, I think. I quickly dial a number and wait.

"Gotham City PD," a man's voice says.

"Hi," I say. "I'm with my friends in…" I think back to the town name. "Ridge View. We can't find anyone here and our car broke down in the desert. We need help getting back."

There's no answer.

"Hello?"

Suddenly, the phone goes dead. My heart beating quickly, I hang up and try again. This time, there is no dial tone. I take my phone out of my pocket and see that there's still no signal whatsoever. If only I could text Roy or Oliver or something and they could come pick us up…

When I turn, I accidentally knock the mannequin forward and he falls to the ground. "Crap," I murmur as he's now on the floor. When I try picking him up, he splits into an array of pieces. On closer inspection, I see that even the insides of this mannequin are full of detail. One of his fingers has fallen off and there's veins and everything. So realistic.

Wait a minute…

I look and see that stitching all around the mannequin's body. This isn't a mannequin. This is a real human body. This is taxidermy.

I get up, feeling a chill down my spine.

Then I hear it.

A beep at the door.

I grab my blade and turn around, but it's only Ramon. He looks frightened and sweat is dripping down his face.

"Thomas," he says, his voice thick in fear. "I can't find the others."

* * *

 **A ROAD TRIP, PART II**

It's cold out in the streets and quiet. Deathly quiet. I don't see a single living human or animal. I've seen a taxidermied dog though out in the street. Its tail was up and its mouth was open in an eternal pant. The lights are still glowing and glittering, making this town look even more creepy.

"What do you mean you can't find them?" I say quietly. I look around the town. There's 'people' everywhere, but they're all frozen in time and taxidermied. A woman looks out from a porch of a store, her hand shading her eyes even though there's no sun out. She's smiling and has blue eyes which almost look like they're following us.

Ramon explains that they were in the clothing store, and when he turned around, they had disappeared. He couldn't find them so he came out and started looking for me. I kick myself for separating and try not to panic. We can't leave without them.

Then I see it. A red light in the pupil of a blue eye. I walk closer to the woman, who stands frozen in place.

"What's wrong?" Ramon asks.

"Don't panic…" I say slowly. "But this place has cameras. Everywhere. There's one in this woman's eye."

"What the hell!" he cries out. He sinks to the floor and starts sobbing. "Where are we?" he mumbles. "I want to go home…"

"We can't." I reply. I look around us. Still empty. Still quiet. I still feel like we're being watched and the hidden cameras confirm we are. Who are these people? If I tell Ramon that the mannequins aren't really mannequins, I'm sure he'll panic even more so I help him up and we head into an ice cream store where old-time music is playing. There's a mannequin behind the ice-cream counter holding up a scoop of ice cream.

I lead him to a bright baby blue table and we sit on the red bench beside it. "Calm down, Ramon," I tell him. "We're going to get out of here. And I need you to not panic."

He continues to sob quietly, but nods at my words after a moment's passed.

"Good," I sigh. Where could they be?

When we went back to the clothing store, there was no sign of Babs and the others. Nothing.

So instead, we head back out, our feet sore and the night growing ever darker (it was now a little past 10). Finally, we come across a row of small houses that are all one-story. One house stands above them all, tall and distinguished.

"That house gives me the chills, man." Ramon says.

"The sooner we find Babs and the others, the sooner we can get out of here," I tell him. He doesn't look like he believes me so I pull out the pocket blade from my pocket. "I've got your back," I say.

"Do you know how to fight though?" he eyes me suspiciously. Ah, if only he knew.

"A little. Enough, anyway." I smile at him comfortingly. "Ready?"

He nods slowly and sets his jaw. "Okay."

* * *

The house is unlocked. All of the houses are unlocked. After peeking into one of the smaller houses, I see that there are mannequins watching television. I don't bother going in to inspect. Meanwhile, Ramon is my lookout.

Finally, I have a strong feeling that as creepy as it might be, that the big house in the middle is where we can find answers. I walk up to the front steps and open the door. It creaks open and reveals a warmly lit hallway entrance. There's a pile of mail by the front with mail addressed to a Mr. Mathis. Orchestra music is playing softly in the background.

I hear Ramon breathing softly behind me. When I look into the kitchen, it's empty. No mannequins so far. As we venture into the dining room, which has red cherry walls and glossy red floors, I see a plate of pasta set out. It's warm.

Strange, I think. Is someone actually living here then?

Whoever he or she is, this person probably already knows we are here. We walk up the stairs and into a dimly lit hallway. I open a random door and see that it's a master bedroom. This one does have a mannequin there, and a woman smiles at me with her head tilted. She has blonde hair and a grotesquely wide smile. She's wearing a pink slip dress and is holding a book open.

"THOMAS!"

I whirl around and see Ramon being dragged into one of the rooms by a gloved hand.

"Ramon!" I jump towards the door which slams in my face. Try as I can, I can't unlock the door knob. Shit. Shit shit shit shit.

I still hear Ramon screaming and shouting but his voice seems to fade into the distance. I pace back before running forward and slamming my foot into the door which breaks into splinters. Soon, I crawl through the hole of a door and see a stone passageway.

Heading further in, I hear a violent buzzing. A smell draws near, becoming stronger and stronger. I know this scent well. It's the smell of blood.

"Thomas!" someone whispers.

That's Alysia's voice. I walk towards it, looking around at this strange and dark laboratory. In the distance, there's still the sound of something buzzing. Then I see it. There are life-sized human cages in a section of this humongous room. Alysia and Jo are there. But where's Babs? Or Ramon?

I crouch down and try opening the door, but it doesn't budge.

"He locked it," Alysia whispers. She bites her lip and I can see in the dim light she's been crying.

"Thomas," Jo whimpers. "Please help us…"

"I will," I nod quickly in as low of a voice as I can. "Just give me a moment."

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

I turn around at the voice. It sounds like the one that I spoke to in the convenience store.

A man stands before me, wearing a bloody white surgeon's coat. He's got soulless eyes and has bright matted orange hair. His skin is deathly green. He holds a chainsaw with blood dripping from it and he's wearing a gray mask which looks suspiciously like skin.

"You interrupted my work, young man."

"Who are you?" I say, stepping back. I palm the blade in the back of my jeans. "And what have you done to Barbara?"

The man tilts his head. "Barbara?" he says her name like it's some sort of foreign word. "I do not know of this Barbara you are speaking of." He laughs and then claps his hands. The lights fly on and I see rows and rows of 'mannequins' in the room. Some of them are smiling, some of them are frowning and some are posing. They're all different shapes, different sizes and different genders. All of them are naked.

"Where are my friends?" I ask him.

"They're right there." He says. "Can't you see?"

And with that, he flies towards me with the chain saw. I jump back and dodge his attack. Grabbing my knife, I swiftly stab it into his shoulder and using the technique that my mentor taught me, drag it through the skin. The man cries out in pain as I then leap forward and slam my foot into the side of his head.

After he recovers, he grabs my knife and flings it to the floor then runs towards me again. "You!" he says. "Are more trouble than I thought…" he murmurs just as I dodge his next attack and slam my fist into the bottom of his chin. As he stumbles back in shocked surprise, clutching his jaw which is now bleeding, I see that his mask has slipped off and lies on the floor. A man looks back at me, blinking. He has bloodshot eyes and he does not look amused.

"My mask!" he shouts. "You ruined my father's mask!"

With all the anger he can conjure, he again launches at me with his chainsaw buzzing.

"Thomas, look out!" I hear Alysia shout. I turn and see another mask looking back at me.

"Ooo, what do we have here?" the other figure says. I see long arms and long legs patterned in different colors. They wrap around me and constrict tightly, until I feel like I've almost lost all the breath in my body.

"Thank goodness," the surgeon says. He reaches down and takes the mask that's now on the floor. He holds it up and glares at me. "You are going to pay for this. Don't you know how fragile human skin can be once it's aged?"

The thing that's holding me constricts its grip even tighter. "Dollmaker," I hear it saying, "You almost let this boy get to you."

"No, no, Ragdoll," Dollmaker says drawing near me. "We were just playing."

I wheeze, trying to say something. "Any last words?" Ragdoll asks me, his breath hot in my ear.

I nod and he loosens his grip.

"Yes," I say. "Go to hell."

My arms have loosened just enough that I can click a button that activates the electric shock in my suit. There's a powerful pulse of electricity that throws Ragdoll back and has him screaming and convulsing on the ground.

Dollmaker stares at me, his chainsaw still on the floor.

"Ah," he says. "Shit."

I lean forward and slam my fist into his face as he tries to fight back but to no avail. He flies back and I turn to see Ragdoll launching himself at me. For a few moments, the three of us are fighting. Two versus one. Dollmaker now has his chainsaw in his hand again and I'm barely dodging his attacks. I land a swift punch to Ragdoll's face and break its mask which crumbles in half and falls to the floor. I come face to face with a normal human face for once, one with a big nose.

His eyes widen. "Hey," he shouts. "That was my mask for love!"

"Yeah?" I say. Then I reach back and my knuckles connect with the soft cartilage of his nose and blood goes spewing everywhere.

"Dollmaker!" Ragdoll shouts, limping away from me and clutching his nose. "Help, asshole!"

Again, I barely dodge a chainsaw as Dollmaker comes flying towards me.

The door flies open and I see Barbara over Dollmaker's shoulder.

"Run!" I tell her, but she ignores me and just as Dollmaker turns, she lands a flying kick into the side of his head. He falls to the floor, completely knocked out. Even I feel a little sorry for him.

I look up at Babs. She looks at me. And for a moment, we're quiet. She walks into my arms and I hug her tightly, sweat dripping down my face.

 **TWO WEEKS LATER…**

Ramon hands me a bottle of cold iced water. I'm sitting on a beach chair overlooking the pool. Nearby, a group of girls in swimsuits are giggling and talking. Babs is on my other side reading a magazine with her face concealed by giant sunglasses.

"Thanks," I take the bottle of cold water and gulp it down.

"No," he sighs. "Thank you." He scratches his head and looks at the floor. "Man, I can't believe it actually happened."

"Me neither."

"Who was that guy, anyway?"

Apparently, Ramon had been knocked out and tranquilized after Dollmaker had gotten a hold of him. When the police arrived on scene, they promptly arrested both Ragdoll and Dollmaker, one of Gotham's most notorious serial killers. Ragdoll was one of Dollmaker's mercenaries, sent to capture live bodies for Dollmaker to turn into stiff dolls for his own amusement (and for his family tradition).

The whole time I was down there, Babs herself was trying to look for us. She came just in time. I think back to how she didn't look scared at all. In fact, she looked very much in her element. But… that's another story.

"No one important," I answer. Then I smile, taking another sip of water. I wonder, did Dollmaker ever think he would encounter a masked vigilante?


End file.
